May 12, 2025

Minding Your Thoughts

A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life

Proverbs 30:32 If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, lay thine hand upon thy mouth.

You’ve seen it. Someone says something they probably shouldn’t have, perhaps it was an automatic response or maybe they just couldn’t help themselves, but they spoke something inappropriate or socially unacceptable. After they made that statement, they then put their hand over their mouth as if to communicate, “Did that really come out of my mouth?” “Did I really say that?,” or “I shouldn’t have said that, but I did!” This is an old gesture that is still very much in use today.

However, our verse today indicates that perhaps we should put our hand upon our mouth before we speak the evil (or foolishness, or pride, etc.) that has fostered itself in our thoughts. This is certainly one way to control our tongue. Tongue control is so important that James wrote, If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain. (James 1:26)  

When I say something inappropriate or foolish I sometimes joke and say something like, “That is why I use raspberry shoe polish; it tastes better when I put my foot in my mouth.” This is funny and a way to say, “I shouldn’t have said that,” but over the years I have found it is much better not to make the statement than to try to cover up my foolish thoughts with humor.

Figuratively speaking it would be better for me to keep my hand on my mouth than to let the foolish and sometimes evil thoughts take life through the spoken word, especially those thoughts of evil that neither benefit man nor glorify our Father in Heaven.

One time I was having a very difficult time in ministry. Frankly, I wanted to say so much, all of it bad, this is a horrible way to enter the pulpit. So, I took my trophy bass that hung on my wall, put it right by my office door in a way where I must look at it when I left the office, and with a sticky note I wrote a phrase on it and put it on that fish. That helped me tremendously; in a way it was the act of putting my hand to my mouth, reminding me to be careful of what I would say while preaching. What did it say? “If I’d kept my mouth shut, I wouldn’t be here.”

May the Lord bless and be pleased with your thought life today.

Dr. William T. Howe