Words can only be spent once, so leverage them with intention and purpose

Why is it that Mom seems to always give the best advice? She'll tell you that "If you're cold, put on socks and a sweater."

Mom's survival skills of sitting up straight, elbows off the table, chewing with your mouth closed, smiling and being polite have equipped us for formal dinners.

And her ever popular "If you cannot say anything nice, do not say anything at all" rule may have even saved us from countless arguments.

Mom's primary source of wisdom may actually be found Proverbs 10:19. It reads, "Too much talk leads to sin. Be sensible and keep your mouth shut."

What the writer of this proverb is handing down to us is that too much talk, or what could easily be defined as gossip, actually creates trouble for us. When we speak about things we know little of or should be keeping to ourselves, the more trouble comes our way. Fractured relationships, broken friendships and marriages where one spouse cannot trust what the other says all come from not valuing the depth and importance of honoring what we say.

A man was given the job of painting the white lines down the middle of a highway.

On his first day he painted six miles; the next day three miles; the following day less than a mile. When the foreman asked the man why he kept painting less each day, he replied "I just can't do any better. Each day I keep getting farther away from the paint can."

Like that painter, the further and further we get away from the source, the thinner and thinner our speech becomes. Thin speech is accompanied with shallow trust, resulting in more and more trouble.

This proverb does not call its readers to a monastical vow of silence but rather to actively leverage each word with intention and purpose. These words imply to us that it is better to be silent than to speak out of ignorance or, even worse, to speak and commit to something and forget to do what you said you would do.

Words are one of the most amazing commodities we have. With words we both declare forever love and offerings of war. Our words can only be spent once. They can never be refunded but they always bring return.

Rob Hurtgen is a husband, father and serves as the associate pastor at the First Baptist Church in Jackson. Read more from him at www.robhurtgen.wordpress.com.