Study to Be Quiet

1Th 4:11 '...study to be quiet'

Study-
G5389
f???t?µe´?µa?
philotimeomai
fil-ot-im-eh'-om-ahee
Middle voice from a compound of G5384 and G5092; to be fond of honor, that is, emulous (eager or earnest to do somethng.): - labour, strive, study.


Quiet-
G2270
??s??a´??
he¯suchazo¯
hay-soo-khad'-zo
From the same as G2272; to keep still (intransitively), that is, refrain from labor, meddlesomeness or speech: - cease, hold peace, be quiet, rest.


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We don't often hear exhortations like that do we? Study to be quiet.


Looking at the Greek definition of the words 'study' and 'quiet' we could also say… strive to rest, labour to hold peace, study to refrain from being meddlesome, strive not to talk.


Still in all, being told to 'study to be quiet' tells us something doesn't it? We are noisy, restless people who don't often find being quiet very easy. Some of us are chatterboxes and we laugh as we tell others how we love to talk and talk. We make light of it because-well- that's just how we are. How easy is it for us to jump into conversations that others might be having without us but we over hear the talking and have our opinion to share. For some, as soon as the thoughts form in their minds they are spouting them out without taking time to think. Have you ever had your mind going a mile a minute with one thought after another? Have you ever been bursting at the seams to just spill out the thoughts you're thinking? Do you find yourself saying 'excuse me' just so you can jump into a conversation, or maybe you don't even ask to be excuse you just start to interject something because you feel what you have to say is relevant. That's it, isn't it? We like to talk because we believe we have something to say others NEED to hear, or WANT to hear. If you didn't think others needed or wanted to hear what you had to say would you still be talking at them, wasting your breath as their eyes glaze over and you get the non-committal nod of half-listening but mostly not? Or perhaps you've been the victim of the angry growl- 'It's none of your business so stay out of it'.


When we talk do we need to be aware of the value of our words? We all know how easy words can turn a happy time into an awful time. We know that truly the tongue is a fire... 'Jas 3:6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity'. With this knowledge in mind, with this fire brand in our mouths ready to strike out and burn any and all around us we don't fully believe in it as something equated with a 'world of iniquity', if we did wouldn't we make a concerted effort to not 'flame' at others, not to let the wicked, sin-filled tongue in our mouths strike out?


Study to be quiet. Strive to be quiet. Labor to be quiet. This is telling us to WORK at being quiet that being quiet might not come quite so natural to us.


I've heard people say they follow of ten second rule, meaning that before they respond to ANYTHING even remotely controversial they'll silently count to ten while thinking about the consequences of the response they might make. That's a good rule, but maybe ten seconds isn't long enough in every situation. At other times as a red-faced, fuming, antagonizing person stands there waiting for a response- ten seconds might seem like five minutes. Giving instantaneous retorts is expected, you might even hear the words - 'Are you going to let them get away with saying that?', if not from others you might hear that from the little sneaky voice inside your head. How often do we respond to stuff harshly because we feel as if our pride has been wounded? We've been hurt by the fiery tongue of another so we feel justified in lashing right back to save our dignity, to preserve our honor, to uphold our selfish idea of the type of person we are and how we deserve to be treated.


Study to be quiet.


You've all heard the saying- 'Think before you speak.' If we 'think' before we speak we are taking time to contemplate the affect our words will have on the situation at hand.


If we are to 'study' to be quiet, we need to truly make an effort to be quiet, don't we?


I read this--

Jas 3:6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
Jas 3:7 For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:
Jas 3:8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.


Every beast, bird, serpent, things of the sea are tamed… true? We wouldn't agree by our definition of tamed but if you think about it NO other creatures have tongues that speak, none! They are tamed by the definition they don't speak and cannot reason as mankind. Our tongues are untamed- no man can tame the tongue- at best we can 'study to be quiet', right?


Jas 3:13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.


Meekness of wisdom. Again, we equate being meek as being somehow inferior to being bold and outspoken and in our day and age we prize those who aren't afraid to stand up for themselves, we award those who debate successfully, we extol the virtues of not being meek but rather being bold. The meek get walked on, the meek are dominated, and yet… 'blessed are the meek'.


Our world is twisted and has raised up likewise twisted people. Ungodly, calling the virtues not truly acceptable by God, acceptable. Telling people to empower themselves- this world is so caught up in the devil's snares they think they are following God, if they would only bow down before our Creator, our Redeemer, and beg for forgiveness seeking to have their hearts and minds opened by the Holy Spirit to understand what God desires not what they desire, they would have hope. You can twist the truth until it fits like a square peg in a round hole by wearing down the sides of the square and forcing it to fit, but it won't ever be the peg that was supposed to fit into that hole, it will be a counterfeit that many will be deceived into believing is the true.


May God help us to 'study to be quiet', to be as He would have us be and not as we think we should be, or as the world tells us is acceptable to be. We need to be acceptable to God through the blood of Jesus Christ, through the righteousness of our Savior. We need to live in Him as He would have us live, not as we would naturally desire to live. We need to take up our crosses, we need to strive against sin, we need to cling to Christ and place all our hope, all our faith in Him fully.


By the grace and through the love of our Savior now and forever!


Amen.