“Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.”
The door is the entry portal into anything. When you enter a building, you always enter through a door. When you
enter a room, you always enter through a door. Nobody comes into a room or a building without going through a door. We put locks on our front doors because we don’t want the wrong people coming into our homes, and rightfully so. The reason we put locks on our front doors is because we want to guard those whom we love on the inside from anyone on the outside who would hurt the ones we love.
The verse above says to “keep the doors of thy mouth.” The word “keep” means to guard. In other words, God is saying that you must be careful about what you allow to come from your mouth. It is so easy to let things come out of the door of our mouth, but once it is out, we cannot bring it back in. This is why you must guard your mouth. God goes further to tell you from whom you should guard the doors of your mouth. God says not to trust your friend, a guide, and even those with whom you sleep to keep silent with what you say. Let me give you five areas where you need to guard the door of your mouth.
First, guard the door of your mouth from things you don’t want others to know. Be careful about telling “secrets” to others. The best rule of thumb about telling a secret is not to tell anyone anything that you would not want others to hear. Just because someone says that they won’t tell anyone doesn’t mean that they won’t tell someone who will tell others.
Second, guard the door of your mouth from saying things that you will later regret. Many people have let words slip from their mouth that they later regretted they said. The best way to guard yourself from regrettable words or conversations is to be slow to say what you are thinking.
Third, guard the door of your mouth from saying what is on your mind. Many relationships and reputations have been destroyed by one’s mouth saying what is on their mind. Just because you are thinking something doesn’t mean you have to say it. There are many times that you just need to keep your mouth in check from spewing what your mind is thinking. You just might save your relationships with others by simply guarding your mouth from saying what is on your mind.
Fourth, guard the door of your mouth from giving opinions about things that are not in your area of authority. Everyone has opinions about everything, but that doesn’t give you a right to speak your opinion. Most of the time it is best to keep your opinion to yourself, especially if what you want to give your opinion on has nothing to do with you or your area of responsibility.
Fifth, guard the door of your mouth from telling all of your heart. Samson lost his ministry because he told the wrong person all that was on his heart. Be careful about giving your heart to others. The one to whom you tell all your heart has the greatest power to hurt you the most. Put a chain on your mouth and keep it from telling all of your heart from those who have no business to have your heart. Only a handful of people should ever know your heart, and my advice would be that you guard your mouth from telling your heart from anyone who is not in your personal family.