Our theme for this month: “Being a virtuous person”
Our Bible verse for today: “If only you would be altogether silent! For you, that would be wisdom.” Job 13:5 (NIV)
Our thought for today: “Silence can be a virtue.”
A wise person knows when to speak and when to remain silent. Sadly, silence is a virtue many of us lack. Or at least, we don’t have enough of it. Many of us speak more than we should, and often with inappropriate words which would be better left unsaid.
Such was the case with Job’s friends. If you’re familiar with the story then you know that Job suffered through a series of terrible calamities. In rapid succession he lost his children, his wealth, and his health. He quickly went from being the most prosperous and influential man in his community, to sitting in dust and ashes, covered in oozing sores, and despised even by the town drunk.
When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar heard about it they quickly went to Job and spent seven days just sitting with him and sharing in his grief. It was what we call “the ministry of presence”. They didn’t say a thing. They simply entered into his grief with him and comforted him by just being there.
But then they started talking. And when they did, they got stupid. They attempted to share wisdom they did not possess; they spoke words that hurt rather than helped; and they did it all in a reproachful and judgmental manner. Finally, in pain and anger and frustration, Job lashed out at them and said, “If only you would be altogether silent! For you, that would be wisdom.” One Bible commentator wrote, “Job’s friends spoke their wisest words during the first seven days they spent with him. That’s when they shut their mouths and kept silent.”
Some of you are old enough to remember the television commercial from the 1980s for the investment firm E.F. Hutton. E.F. Hutton claimed that their brokers only spoke when they had real investment wisdom to impart. Therefore when E.F. Hutton spoke, people listened. So the commercial showed two men in a crowded noisy room having a conversation about investments. One man said to his friend, “Well my broker is E.F Hutton and E.F. Hutton says …” As those words left his mouth the entire room fell silent and everyone turned to the man and leaned forward to hear what it was E.F. Hutton had to say.
In Ecclesiastes 9:17 Solomon wrote, “The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouts of fools.”
Silence is often a virtue. If you’re the kind of person who just runs your mouth for the sake of making noise, people will soon tune you out because they realize you have nothing of value to say. But if when you speak you really have something meaningful (and accurate) to say, your words will have weight and people will listen. Don’t be like Job’s friends, opinionated and mouthy. Consider your words carefully and before you speak, make sure you really do have something helpful and of value to share.
Oak Hill Baptist Church