Exercise Discretion

Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you. Proverbs 2:11

We’ve all said the wrong thing, at the wrong time, to the wrong person, and ended up regretting it. A pastor was being honored at a retirement dinner, and a local politician had been asked to make a speech. The politician was running late so the pastor decided to say a few words: ‘When I came here twenty-five years ago I thought this was a terrible church. The first man I talked to said he’d stolen, lied, embezzled, had an affair and done drugs. I was appalled. Then I realized everybody isn’t like that; this church is filled with good people.’ Just then the politician arrived and stood up to speak: ‘I’ll never forget the day the pastor arrived and I had the privilege of being the first church member to talk to him.’ Loose lips sink ships! The Bible says: ‘Discretion will preserve you.’ Being discreet means having the ability to keep sensitive information private—including things you may have heard years ago! The writer of Proverbs said, ‘He who is trustworthy conceals a matter’ (Proverbs 11:13), and in the New Testament Paul cautions believers about discussing ‘things not proper to mention’ (1 Timothy 5:13). Divulging what you know about other people’s problems and failures may make you feel good momentarily, but afterwards it has a predictably negative impact on the relationship. Plus, you get a reputation as a person who can’t be trusted. A wise man said, ‘If your lips would keep from slips, five things observe with care: of whom you speak, to whom you speak, and how, and when, and where.’ That’s advice you would do well to pay attention to!

Prayer
Heavenly Father, help me be quicker to think and slower to act. In Jesus’ Name, Amen