British Petroleum is not on my list of favorite companies. They do not impress with what little I have seen of their policies and corporate attitudes.
Today, BP chief executive Tony Hayward announced he would step down effective October 1. This is the man who was quoted as saying in the face of the worst oil spill in US history, “I just want my life back.” No matter the context, those words infuriated the families of eleven people who died in the initial explosion and the thousands whose lives have been horribly affected. The man who jetted back to Great Britain for a yacht race while others scrambled to contain the oil leak has said that he was “demonized and vilified.” Hopefully, the over $18 million severance package he walks away with will comfort him somewhat as BP stock falls and thousands of Gulf residents deal with the horrible economic repercussions.
Few would argue that Hayward’s words were wise, regardless of whether or not they were taken out of context. As one who has made his share of major gaffes, I don’t want to be overly critical of making a stupid statement at precisely the wrong time.
What I am reminded of is the amazing practicality and truth of the Hebrew proverbs. Hayward’s statement has single-handedly motivated me to set a goal next year of reading a chapter of Proverbs every day. I have done that before and anxiously await doing it again in addition to my regular Bible reading schedule.
Here’s an example of an applicable proverb.
The heart of the righteous studieth to answer: but the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things. (Proverbs 15:28)
Our words weigh much more than we imagine. Though I have been guilty many times of violating this principle, this current event impresses upon me anew the importance of measuring my words.
I want to be careful, however, not to simply focus on the negative of keeping my mouth shut when my words would be inappropriate. My prayer is that God would guide me to use my words for the benefit of others. Again, there is a proverb for this.
Email this postA man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it! (Proverbs 15:23)
Join me each day as I share what's bouncing around in my head and heart. I wish I had time to sit down with each of you over a good cup of coffee, but at least we can thank God for blogs! Oh! I'll take the coffee, too, whenever I can!
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Reminds me of every mother’s admonitions:
If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.
“Actions speak louder than words” and “reputation is everything” seems to be a rewording of this proverb – Prov. 20:11 “Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work [be] pure, and whether [it be] right.”
I read a chapter of Proverbs a day too
I started last year when a message at my church challenged us to do it for a whole year… I took on the challenge and I can’t seem to stop, now I need it daily. It has been so challenging in my life and I have learned a lot about being wise with my words, my actions and remembering God is who He is, no one is like him and I REALLY need Him. And now, off to get my portion this morning. Buenos días!
Jeff
Sometimes when you are preaching, I am thinking how important it must be and has to be to weigh each and every word that comes out of your mouth…Seriously as you know a spoken word can change the direction of someones life…Alot of people don’t go to the Bible as their final authority…I can just here it now in peoples home, “Well Jeff Said”…Man, now that is alot of responsibility… They probably do not quote you right anyway or just make it sound a little better to favor their side in a “discussion “with their better half…
I was thinking of statement ” I want my life back”…Though it was probably not a good thing to say but I understood what he meant… Mike
There are I times when I can relate to BP’s CEO’s comments “I just want my life back”. Sometimes circumstances of my work take over and push through the day to places I don’t want to go, conversations I don’t want to have and news I don’t want to deliver to my clients. But, that is the reqirement of the field and profession I have chosen. I may only have been handed the corporate level decisions that affect my clients and took no personal part in passing of those actions but I am the face of the Corporation to my clients and therefore I must hear their complaints and respond to their problems with compasion and understading. That after all is what they (my clients) pay me for! Those 2 verses in Proverbs that you mention are right to the point of what I needed to hear and I suspect they would be proper for Mr. Hayward right about now also! Thanks Jeff for the insight.
Ha! Both Mike and Tom admit to feeling the same way – I just want my life back! Add me to the club. I think we all feel that way at times. The art of biblical tongue control is to contain our feelings when not appropriate or beneficial for others. That’s the hard part, huh? Thanks for the comments!