Fasting

I'm fasting, but not the kind of fasting you would think.  I'm fasting from sharing my unsolicited opinions.  I am so very blessed to have been born in this democracy.  I can believe and/or say very close to anything I want to without fear of punishment or persecution.  I recently had the pleasure of listening to Dr. Sheena Iyengar speak. She has spent her life studying the effect of choices. Something she said struck a cord within me.  She said, "Just as the love of money can foster greed, so too can the love of choice foster powerlessness."  As I was pondering this statement, I felt the clear conviction that these words could also apply to the love of our own opinions.  How many times have I shared my opinion with someone, then thought they were foolish in their choice because they didn't follow MY advice?  I've thought, "How come no one listens to me?"  How have I gone 30 years without realizing that they didn't ask me for my opinion in the first place?  I have this innate desire to help others.  I feel that it is God given, but I have taken that gift and run with it!  I've been making the decisions about when, where, who and how to help.  This has led me to give advice where it's not always desired.  This is what I've discovered -  The love of your own opinions fosters foolishness.

“A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions” (Proverbs 18:2)

 

I'm not saying that I won't still hold my own opinion in high regard for myself and my household, but I'm learning to guard who I share it with and under what circumstances.

 

Proverbs 10:19 says, "When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise"?

"And I say to you, that every careless word that men shall speak, they shall render account for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned." Matthew 12:36-37

"He that keepest his mouth, keepest his life. He that opens his lips too wide shall bring on his own destruction." Proverbs 13:3

 

 Proverbs 18:13 “He who answers before listening – that is his folly and his shame.”

 

I'm learning to analyze why I want to speak before I speak.  What is the desired result from my sharing?  How can I word an opinion so that it effectively communicates the truth that I wish to impart? 

 

Ephesians 4:29 “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”

 

Colossians 4:6 says, "Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned, as it were, with salt."

 One of the things I've admired most about my husband is his ability to just listen.  I think listening is an art form.  It's something that takes practice to perfect.  I've spent my whole life talking, talking, talking and more talking, but now I'm realizing how important it is for me to practice the art of listening.  People who know me will probably think I'm angry - because, in the past, that's the only time I don't talk alot, but I'm not, I'm searching for peace and I'm finding much peace in the silence.