Snow treasures - more about communication

We are winding up our study of our passage in Proverbs. We've been camped here for a while, as we consider ideal speech from believers, politically correct speech that we hear about today, and our speech as a witness for our Lord. There's been a lot here for us, and I for one have received both blessings and instruction from the study!
Here are our verses for today:

If you find honey, eat just enough—    too much of it, and you will vomit. Seldom set foot in your neighbor’s house—    too much of you, and they will hate you. (Proverbs 25:16-17)

Whoa! That's about speech?
Well, yes, among other behaviors.
These verses warn against excess, just like my grandma did, when she said, "too much of a good thing," right? If we indulge too much in things that are tasty, or things that are good, or things that are comfortable, we may get ourselves into trouble. Overdoing anything can be a problem.
So, too, we should avoid excessive speech:

To answer before listening—    that is folly and shame. (Proverbs 18:13)

But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. (Matthew 12:36)

The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded    than the shouts of a ruler of fools. (Ecclesiastes 9:17)

Those who guard their mouths and their tongues    keep themselves from calamity. (Proverbs 21:23)

Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent,    and discerning if they hold their tongues. (Proverbs 17:28)

Things that are not commonplace become valued. If we are constantly speaking, we run the risk of being an annoyance. Just like if we are constantly at our neighbor's house, we are not as welcome -- we become annoying! We should speak enough that our words are valued.

The last verse in our passage deals again with truthfulness:

Like a club or a sword or a sharp arrow    is one who gives false testimony against a neighbor. (v. 18)

The terrible consequences of lying are compared here to weapons of warfare! Giving false testimony against a neighbor refers to a courtroom setting, and it's said to be similar to weapons that can crush, divide, or pierce someone.  We need to pay close attention to all that we say about others. A false tongue can make for more conflict and more hostility. We can kill reputations, assassinate character, and destroy lives. Nope, I'm not being dramatic; I've seen it happen.
How?
Shading the truth, raising doubt, casting suspicion on someone . . . even a raised eyebrow or a voice inflection can cause our hearer to think differently about a person. Communication is a powerful thing!
What about gossip, too? That can be just as bad -- it truly violates the law of love toward our neighbor. We can never justify gossip.
Gossip feeds our desires to feel superior to someone else. It nurtures those feelings of wanting to fit in to a group. It can be a challenging habit to correct, but the key is to love people and pray for them. Kinda hard to talk badly about someone when you just asked God to bless them and help them!

Knowing what to say and when to say it is the full essence of godly wisdom. In these days of difficult communication, it can try our souls. Oh, how we need the Spirit's help! With terms like "hate speech" and "triggers" and "victim-hood" being bandied about, we believers are in the crosshairs. We are targets for those who seek to shut us down. To stop our communication, because after all, they don't agree with us.
We mentioned before that the term "politically correct" may have been a good concept at one time, but that now it is used as a sledge hammer to shut people up. What may have started as an attempt for more civility, has morphed into a whole new animal!
We will discuss more of this tomorrow.