Wholesome Advice

While I was reading my Bible the other day, I came across a word that struck me.  As a matter of fact, upon further search, I found that this word is only found twice in the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible.  That word was “wholesome.” 

The references, one found in the Old Testamant and the other in the New, gave me pause for thought about its use.  In general, “wholesome” carries the idea of good health, behavior, and morals.  Biblically, the word means being healthy or sound.  As we consider the two verses using “wholesome,” we see that some sound advice is given to us.

In Proverbs 15, we find that “A wholesome tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit” (vs. 4).  This reminds us of Paul’s words to the saints in Ephesus when he says “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers” (Ephesians 4:29).  We also read in Proverbs 14:30, “A sound heart is life to the body, but envy is rottenness to the bones.”  The word “sound” comes from the same word as “wholesome.”  I can’t help but remember Jesus’ words in Luke 6:45 when He says, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil.  For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”

Not only should our hearts and tongues be “wholesome,” that which we proclaim should be “sound” as well.  In his first letter to the young evangelist Timothy, Paul instructs him “If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness” (1 Timothy 6:3), pointing out the importance of staying true to the gospel of Christ and not doing things out of pride or for personal gain.  This same point is taught as well in 2 Timothy 1:13 “Hold fast the pattern of sound words” and Titus 1:9 “holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may . . . by sound doctrine, both exhort and convict those who contradict.”

May we take heed to the “wholesome” advice we find in the pages of the Bible, for as Jesus said “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him – the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day” (John 12:48).