“It’s only words,” sang the Bee Gees, and yet it is words that can steal a heart or break someone’s life. This sermon from the series on the fruit of the Spirit turns to the Proverbs of Solomon (Proverbs 15), where a gentle answer turns away wrath and harsh words stir up anger. It shows that gentleness is not weakness but strength under control, a calm that defuses the bombs of everyday conflicts. Listen before you speak the next words whose echo may resound for years.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- In Proverbs 15:1-4 Solomon contrasts a gentle answer with harsh words, and the tongue of the wise with the mouth of fools. What does this contrast teach us about what our words reveal about us?
- Why do you think Solomon places the statement that the eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good, right in the middle of verses about speech?
- The sermon described the Greek meaning of gentleness: a tamed stallion, a soothing ointment, strength under control. How do these images change your understanding of gentleness, which is often mistaken for weakness?
- The speaker compared a difficult conversation to a bomb that you cannot defuse with another bomb. In which conversations is it hardest for you to answer gently, and what is happening in your heart at those moments?
- The story of the father telling his daughter she is hopeless, and the story of Howard, show that words can stay in someone's life for years. What words from others still echo in you, and how have they shaped you?
- Who could you speak words to this week that would be a tree of life for them, and how can you ask the Holy Spirit to change your heart before conversations where you usually react harshly, including online?
