Guarding Knowledge

Proverbs 5:1-2
My son, be attentive to my wisdom; incline your ear to my understanding, 2 that you may keep discretion, and your lips may guard knowledge.

I am very much like men in many aspects, but am unlike them in some. Most men guard their mouths when they are at home and around, especially their wife. They will speak nearly everything that comes to their mind at work, but then guard the door of their lips like a roman guard when they get home. This is where I am unlike most men. The Lord has helped me to communicate better over the years. But I used to talk all the time. I still talk plenty, but I do much more listening then I used to. 

I remember one time, someone dear to me called me to tell me something that they heard. It was about God. This person asked me not to say anything good or bad about it, just to listen because it was of interest to this person. I did not honor this person's request at all. I listen attentively to what they were saying, then proceeded to back up a dump truck load of information, and pour it on this individual. After a few weeks the Lord showed me that I needed to repent of my pride. The reason I did what I did with this person that I love, is that my heart was filled with pride. 

This action that I did, taught me many things. For one, I thought I was wise because of all the things that I knew. But what I learned was that I was actually a fool. You see a fool speaks everything they know, or think they know. A fool does not know how to guard their lips when they need to, and they don't know how to have the guards leave their post when they need to.