Session 5: Bad Words
Read Proverbs 6:12-14; 16:30; 17:4; 18:8; 26:23; 29:5
Words can hurt. Yes, painfully. Sometimes they are intended to hurt, at other times they may be true but damaging to our pride and our ego’s. What is sad is that some of the most damaging words we may hear are the ones never intended to attack us directly. Today we will study about harmful words.
1. Do you ever glance at the tabloids as you move through the check-out line? What is there about them that is so appealing to people?
______________________________________________________________________________
2. Most of us have been on the receiving end of malicious words aimed at us, but have you ever been hurt by words that were not aimed at you in particular?
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. In the proverbs we just read, they speak of evil communication without words being spoken. What are some ways mentioned that this can happen?
_____________________________________________________________________________
4. Describe a time when you saw a non-verbal gesture. How did you feel when you saw them?
_____________________________________________________________________________
5. What kind of danger do you encounter when someone communicates something to you this way?
_____________________________________________________________________________
6. Suppose you hear a derogatory report about someone else. According to 17:4, by hearing it do you show yourself to be wicked or a liar?
______________________________________________________________________________
7. Imagine a platter of tasty treats. What do these goodies have in common with the words of a gossip? (18:8)
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8. Do you think there is any danger in “innocently” overhearing the words from evil lips and lying tongues?
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Proverbs 26:23 points to a vulnerability we all face when listening to others talk: no matter how fervent they appear, they can, like pottery glaze, hide something beneath. Do you think there is any way to test words like you would evaluate a piece of shiny pottery?
_____________________________________________________________________________
10. How does 29:5 describe the threat from flattery?
______________________________________________________________________________
11. Why is flattery simple to offer? Why is it simple to accept?
______________________________________________________________________________
12. Thinking back over your previous answers, which is easier for you to produce – good words or bad words?
It is difficult to avoid the harm of bad words if we are the source of them ourselves. The one sure way is to measure what we speak against the advice of David in Psalm 19:14
“My the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.”
What will be your objective this week to reduce the likelihood of harm to yourself and others by bad words? An old country adage goes, “If you can’t say something good about someone, just say nothing.” Good words.
Session 5: Bad Words
Read Proverbs 6:12-14; 16:30; 17:4; 18:8; 26:23; 29:5
Words can hurt. Yes, painfully. Sometimes they are intended to hurt, at other times they may be true but damaging to our pride and our ego’s. What is sad is that some of the most damaging words we may hear are the ones never intended to attack us directly. Today we will study about harmful words.
1. Do you ever glance at the tabloids as you move through the check-out line? What is there about them that is so appealing to people?
______________________________________________________________________________
2. Most of us have been on the receiving end of malicious words aimed at us, but have you ever been hurt by words that were not aimed at you in particular?
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. In the proverbs we just read, they speak of evil communication without words being spoken. What are some ways mentioned that this can happen?
_____________________________________________________________________________
4. Describe a time when you saw a non-verbal gesture. How did you feel when you saw them?
_____________________________________________________________________________
5. What kind of danger do you encounter when someone communicates something to you this way?
_____________________________________________________________________________
6. Suppose you hear a derogatory report about someone else. According to 17:4, by hearing it do you show yourself to be wicked or a liar?
______________________________________________________________________________
7. Imagine a platter of tasty treats. What do these goodies have in common with the words of a gossip? (18:8)
______________________________________________________________________________
8. Do you think there is any danger in “innocently” overhearing the words from evil lips and lying tongues?
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Proverbs 26:23 points to a vulnerability we all face when listening to others talk: no matter how fervent they appear, they can, like pottery glaze, hide something beneath. Do you think there is any way to test words like you would evaluate a piece of shiny pottery?
_____________________________________________________________________________
10. How does 29:5 describe the threat from flattery?
______________________________________________________________________________
11. Why is flattery simple to offer? Why is it simple to accept?
______________________________________________________________________________
12. Thinking back over your previous answers, which is easier for you to produce – good words or bad words?
It is difficult to avoid the harm of bad words if we are the source of them ourselves. The one sure way is to measure what we speak against the advice of David in Psalm 19:14
“My the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.”
What will be your objective this week to reduce the likelihood of harm to yourself and others by bad words? An old country adage goes, “If you can’t say something good about someone, just say nothing.” Good words.