Our speech, tongue, mouth and words are often addressed in the book of Proverbs. In Chapter 10 we are exhorted not to talk too much, but when we do it should be of such nature that it brings encouragement to others. Verse 11 says, “The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life…” We should keep that in mind in all our conversations.

When Lou Gehrig was starting his baseball career, he went into a slump and grew so discouraged he thought of quitting. A friend named Paul Krichell heard Lou was slumping, and he took a train to Hartford and invited Lou to join him for a steak dinner at the Bond Hotel. Lou poured out his frustrations, and Paul could see the player’s confidence was shot. He spent the evening telling Lou that all hitters go through slumps, that the best ones—even Ty Cobb—don’t get hits six or seven out of every ten tries. But eventually good hitters start hitting again; and, said Paul, you’re a good hitter. After dinner, Gehrig walked with Paul to the train station and thanked him for coming. The next day, Lou started blasting the ball again, and over the next eleven games he came through with twenty-two hits, including six home runs—and his career took off. “I decided not to quit after all,” he said.

Sometimes we need to take a train, track down someone, buy them a steak, and encourage them with wise counsel.

Chuck
“The tongue of the righteous is choice silver; the heart of the wicked is of little worth.” Proverbs 10:20