“Let not your mouth lead you into sin” (Ecclesiastes 5:6 ESV)

How many times has your mouth led you into sin? How quickly it seems to speak without thinking. It makes promises it can’t keep and it offers opinions on things of which it has no knowledge. It exaggerates for pride’s sake and denies to avoid accountability. It is, as James has said, “an unruly evil” (James 3:8). So Solomon warns not to be “rash with your mouth,” especially as you open it to make promises to God. Better not to vow, than to vow and not keep it. Better to be quiet, letting your words be few, than to be a fool with many words. Why let your mouth lead? It will nearly always lead you into sin. Instead, let the Spirit lead. Let His words fill your mouth.