“He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed” (Proverbs 13:20).

That’s so simple and straightforward.

To be wise, hang around wise people.

To avoid destruction, avoid friendship with the foolish.

But there’s another way to consider this verse.

Those who choose me as a friend — are they exposing themselves to wisdom or to destruction?

Oh wow!

“Talk is cheap” — how often I’ve heard and said that in my lifetime!

I know it means that deeds carry more weight than mere boasting.

But this morning I think of it this way . . . .

Since speaking is so easy and costs me so little, why do I not use it more often to encourage, bless, and build up others?

With my words I could doctor those around me:

“There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health” (Proverbs 12:18).

Let me have the tongue of the wise!

I don’t want to be one with piercing, slashing, stabbing words.