September 13

Have you ever been baited? You know how that goes—someone says or does something deliberately to provoke you to a response that would be un-Christlike?
We’ve all taken the bait, probably more times than we care to admit. We have responded in kind when we should have responded in Christ.

The old adage that the road to hell is paved with good intentions could state further that the mortar around those good intentions is the words that often accompany our failed intentions. Though we may have the best of intentions, they do not approximate what the best of our words would be if we yielded our words and the consequences of them to Jesus.

The Word has wise counsel regarding how we should respond to the bait that is set out for us. The Author of the Word’s wise advice is the One who knows us inside and out, the One Whose admonitions are well-heeded if we desire to reap the good He has planned for us.

In I Peter 3:10 the Lord says through Peter, “Let him who desires to enjoy life and see good days keep his tongue from speaking evil and his lips from deceit.” If we truly desire the Lord to be glorified in us—even when we are baited—the sure way to accomplish that goal is to refrain from vile conversation, subtlety and lies.