Proverbs 10:11

The book of Proverbs gives us a lot of instruction on a lot of different subjects. One subject that can keep us in God’s wisdom is Godly Follower-ship. Who we follow; where we follow; how we follow are all spoken about in Proverbs. Here is one of them about the righteous vs the wicked. 

Proverbs 10:11 (ESV)

The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life,

but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

If you want to know the character of someone you only have to be around them for awhile to listen to their speech. What is in the well (the heart) will come up in the bucket (their mouth). In Proverbs 10:11 and 10:31-32 (and a few more verses in this chapter) we read about how the mouth of the righteous will be different than the mouth of the foolish/wicked. Righteous people bring life and understanding and praise from their lips. They do not bring fourth violence or perverted justice. Using this litmus test of Solomon you don't have to be around a person very long to find out what is in their heart. If God has regenerated the heart and placed the Holy Spirit in us then we will have a different set of speech patterns. Since we have not completely overcome the darkness of our hearts we will have speech that simply burst fourth from that dark well. But, a true believer who has been regenerated by the Spirit to be conformed to Christ will have speech "patterns" that reflect God's mercy and grace. We will burst fourth more often than not in patterns of righteousness and speak of life and virtue. What did your speech yesterday reveal about you? What will it reveal about your relationship with God today?