Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well. Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares?
—Proverbs 5:15- 16
Despite what today’s verse looks like, it’s not a warning against drinking dirty water. The water is a metaphor for how we speak and how we live our lives. It’s an admonition to mind our own business and be careful what we share with others, even fellow believers.
Christian author Karen Ehman recently wrote a book titled Keep it Shut: What to Say, How to Say It, and When to Say Nothing at All. Though geared toward women, the book has something to say to everyone. Whether we mean to or not, most of us talk too much at some point. We gossip about people or tear them down with negative words before we know what we’re doing. We share intimate details of our lives with people who, though friendly, probably should not know them yet, if at all. Once you say the words, they’re about as easy to get back as spilled water into a cup.
This doesn’t mean to stop talking or sharing, but it does mean to consider whether our words are uplifting and meaningful, or whether we need to share certain details with certain people. If you aren’t sure whether to say something, it’s probably best left unsaid. If you haven’t known someone long, resist the urge to tell your life story, even if that person is a Christian. If what you are going to say is negative or would hurt the person it refers to, keep your mouth shut. That will stem the flow of negativity that is common to our world. Make your own tongue a pleasant cistern from which others can drink.
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