Proverbs 4:24
Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.
1 Corinthians 13:11
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
Ephesians 4:25
Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
Ephesians 4:31
Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
The Lord instructs us to “put away” certain habits from our lives. The very fact that He makes it an instruction means we have control over these actions. It is our choice to keep or put away these habits.
The list of items in the above Scriptures have consequences that the Lord knows will cause us grief and He wants us to get them out of our lives. (Merriam-Webster definitions)
Froward mouth: Moving or facing away from something or someone. Also, difficult to deal with, perverse.
Perverse Lips: Turn away from what is right or good, corrupt, improper, incorrect. Also, obstinate in opposing what is right, reasonable or accepted, wrongheaded.
Childish Things: Marked by or suggestive of immaturity and lack of poise. Lacking complexity, simple. Deteriorated with age especially in mind, senile.
Lying: Marked by or containing untrue statements, dishonest, mendacious.
Bitterness: Marked by intensity or severity, accompanied by severe pain or suffering. Being relentlessly determined, exhibiting intense animosity. Harshly reproachful, marked by cynicism and rancor, intensely unpleasant. Caused by or expressive of severe pain, grief or regret.
Wrath: Strong vengeful anger or indignation. Retributory punishment for an offense of a crime: divine chastisement.
Anger: A strong feeling of displeasure and usually of antagonism, rage.
Clamour: [clamor]: Noisy shouting, a loud continuous noise, insistent public expression, protesting.
When we look at the definitions for these “put away” life habits, it is clear to see they are not a positive influence for our lives. This is why the Lord wants us to choose to put them away from us. It almost looks like a forceful action. We need to hate these types of actions in our lives. A picture of bees clamoring around us comes to mind. We would flee as quickly as possible from them.
Let us choose to look for any of these actions in our lives and choose to put them away. The Lord has much better life choices for us to enjoy.
