Latest / Beliefs, Ballots, And BullDawgs / Tuesday August 25, 2026
Transcript
- Greg: Hey, what's up and welcome back, dog fans. This is the latest episode of Beliefs, Ballots, and Bulldogs. I'm your host, Greg Miller. It is Tuesday, August 25th, and we are getting dangerously close to some college football. ⁓ today we're going to a full barbershop debate, a fun question for our ⁓ our dog theme segment, and that's if you could take any former quarterback and and drop him onto this year's roster, who would you pick? Not necessarily who had the best college career, not necessarily who had the best NFL career, the best stats, the most talent. I'm asking who would you add to this year's team based on this year's roster, the schedule, current version of college football, our offense, the SEC as a whole? Who would you take? Who gives us the best shot? And I I think there's a ton of good answers. Some of them are pretty obvious. ⁓ you you got Stafford and and the immense talent, the NFL success. You got Aaron Murray who just put up unworldly numbers while ⁓ for four years in Athens. You got one of my personal favorites, back from my generation old, David Green, just as calm and collected, just the absolute definition of a winner. way back old school, ⁓ I'm an old dude, but way even before my time with friend Tarkenton, ⁓ Eric Zyer was was a wonderful quarterback. Jake Fromm is as cerebral and as great of a leader as we've had. And and then you can't you can't knock the guy who just put two rings and two championship trophies in Athens. ⁓ Stetson Bennett, man. The kid just refuses to get cut in the NFL. You you'd have to throw Stetson in there after the two years he had ⁓ and the back-to-back titles. ⁓ you know, I think there's there's a lot of options, but but for me, and maybe it's a nostalgia thing, but I I would go back and say DJ Shockley. And maybe it's just because I was a fan of the way he hung around and waited for that fifth year and and came in and led us to an SEC title. ⁓ but DJ's dual threat capabilities, he was a much better passer by his senior year than than he gets credit for. And he was just a lot of fun to watch. DJ was an absolute electric guy in the backfield at quarterback. So that that'd be who I got. And look, I I wouldn't argue with any of the other guys. That that's not the point. ⁓ and that's the thing. I guess I'm just asking, you know, who would you take? That's that's the question for the day. If if you could take any of those guys, or maybe it's somebody that I didn't even think to mention, ⁓ maybe it's I don't know. Who who else could it be? I hope it's not Joe Teroshinsky the third. ⁓ I saw him on the dog band the other day called Joey Three Sticks. Love it. Great nickname. ⁓ but I got d I got DJ Shockley. Who ⁓ who do you guys have, dog fans? Y'all chime in and ⁓ drop some comments down here and let me know if you could take any quarterback from the past from Athens, who would you pick to plop down into this year's roster and roll forward with? be honest with guys I'm skipping through some content here because I ain't feeling incredibly motivated today. So we're gonna ⁓ we're gonna skip some stuff and and I'll tie it into tomorrow's message. ⁓ but we are gonna get back to to our proverbs week and and today is day two. ⁓ and that is the the message or the theme for today is you don't have to say everything you think. And I can tell you this is one that absolutely hits home. This is one that I am right in the middle of a season where I am intentionally Trying to work on this and just realizing that there are certain thoughts and certain comments that just don't need to come out. ⁓ You know, just because it's true, or just because it's funny, or even if it's deserved, doesn't mean, doesn't mean you need to say it. ⁓ so if yesterday was about learning when to listen, today's the opposite. Today's about learning when to shut up. And look, apparently God knew we'd have a problem with this because hey, Proverbs talks a lot about our mouths, our words, our tempers, our Gossip, our arguments, our inability to keep our bad gum opinions to ourselves. And there's one verse in Proverbs that basically says, the more you talk, the more opportunities you have to say something stupid. I get it. That's a little bit of a Greg Miller translation, but that's because this one hits home and I am very familiar. The Bible actually puts it a little more eloquently than I did. Proverbs chapter 10, verse 19. When words are many, transgression is not lacking. But whoever restrains his lips is prudent. In other words, sometimes wisdom sounds a lot like nothing at all. And in 2026, when everybody has a phone, a microphone, a camera, and a comment section, hey, we all have opinions and maybe, maybe the Proverbs is telling us here, maybe this is some wisdom that we all desperately need. So hey, let's let's welcome back Proverbs Week for day number two and let's talk about our mouths a little bit. We'll start with one of my favorite proverbs. It's chapter 17, verses 27-28. Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise when he closes his lips. He is deemed intelligent. Think about what Solomon's telling us here. You can literally be a fool and dramatically improve people's opinions of you just by keeping your mouth shut. That that's encouraging. There's there's hope for all of us, even me. but underneath the humor, there there is something important. Wisdom doesn't necessarily teach us what to say. ⁓ a lot of what wisdom is is is trying to learn when to say it or when to not say anything at all. And I think in our society these days, and and look, I I don't want to be ⁓ overly hypocritical. I think we've lost sight of that. There's just a time and a place where you should just keep your mouth shut and your opinion to yourself. But something, something happens in the world today, and within seconds, everybody's expected to have an opinion. If there's breaking news, you need to get on and post something about it. If there's a controversy, then you need to pick a side. Hey, if somebody says something stupid, you need to call them out and respond. If somebody insults you, you need to have some way to clap back and get that vibe back. If somebody disagrees with you, you correct them. Look, if somebody makes you angry, you you go to the rooftops and let everybody know. We have created an entire culture built around reaction. And we've talked about it repeatedly on here, but it's because it's a subject that I think bears repeating. You know, social media rewards these reactions. The hotter the take, the angrier the response, the sharper the insult, the more engagement it gets. But Proverbs keeps whispering something completely different to us. And I think we all need to pay attention. Proverbs keeps telling us to slow down. Proverbs 29, 11 says, a fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back. I mean, that is almost the complete antithesis of what our culture today tells us. Our culture today tells us to express ourselves. Scripture says control yourself. And those are definitely not the same thing. We need to realize not. Everything inside you deserves to or needs to come out. And that is a statement that some of us just need to sit with for a minute. Just because you feel something doesn't mean you have to say it. Just because you think something doesn't mean you have to post it. Just because somebody deserves a response doesn't mean you have to give it to them. Not every emotion deserves an expression and not every thought deserves publication. Not every insult deserves retaliation. And not every battle deserves your participation. It's not weakness to sit quietly. Sometimes restraint requires considerably more strength than than retaliation or responding. It's easy to fire back. Anybody can lose their temperature. Any anybody can send that nasty text or post that thing or whatever it is. Wisdom sometimes just tells you to put the phone down. H here's something practical. Before you say it, before you post it, before you send that text or fire off that email, just give yourself a few seconds and ask three questions. Is it true? Not did somebody say, I agree, like is it true? Not does it feel true? Not do I agree? Is it actually, actually true? As Christians, we talk about it all the time. The the truth as a whole is is the underlying foundation of this whole show. As Christians, the truth matters. But then ask the harder question, not just is it actually true? Is it necessary? Here's the part I think we've all forgotten. Something may be entirely and completely true, but still be absolutely unnecessary to say. You notice that your spouse makes a small mistake. You can point it out and try to correct it, but do you need to? Like, is it necessary? Your friend tells a story and gets some insignificant detail wrong. Do you interrupt them and correct them or just let it go? You know, somebody says something that's that's ridiculous online. I mean, you can spend your time and effort constructing the right response, or you can just say, this doesn't matter, move on, let it go. Will saying anything about this make it better? That's the third question. Is it true? Is it necessary? And will my response or will my participation improve the situation? And that doesn't mean will it make you feel better. It it means will it actually improve the situation? Proverbs chapter 15, verse 1 says, A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. Notice Solomon's not telling us not to disagree. He doesn't say let people walk all over you. He talks about how we choose to respond. You can tell the truth without being cruel. You can disagree without humiliating somebody. You can correct somebody without destroying them. And you can absolutely defend yourself without being hateful. And sometimes, believe it or not, sometimes you can just walk away. You can just let it go. There's more strength in that than most of us realize. So let's let's bring this all home. And I and I mean literally, let's bring it home. Social media isn't where our words matter the most. It's it's easy to talk about all the idiots online. I I'm an idiot online. But let's talk about the people that that sit at your dinner table or sit at the couch with you at night, your your spouse, your children, your family. Nobody knows your weaknesses quite like those people closest to you. And nobody knows theirs quite like you. You know their insecurities, you know their history, you know the things they're sensitive about, you know their buttons, you know when they're angry, upset, concerned, you know exactly which buttons to push. And that's why Proverbs chapter 12, verse 18 hits on and is so powerful. There is one whose rash words are like sword thrust, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. I mean, what an image. Your mouth can be used as a sword or as medicine. Same tongue, same person, same conversation, different choices, different tone, different words. So look, maybe before you say something to the person you love, ask yourself, am I about to use my mouth as a weapon or as medicine? Because here's the thing about words, and look, we all say actions matter more than words, but the thing about words is you can apologize them and you can ask for forgiveness. And look, relationships usually can move on and heal. But you can never unsay those words and they will never be unheard either. Some of us still remember sentences that that somebody said to us 20, 30, 40 years ago. Words are powerful. And sometimes, you know, we have to realize that that winning an argument means losing. This one's gotten me before. Look, you you can you can be right factually and still handle being right in a terrible manner. You can win the argument and lose the relationship. How many times have you heard me say that? You can prove your point while making the other person feel about two inches tall. And then what did you accomplish? What did you really win? Proverbs isn't asking us not to care about the truth. The truth matters enormously. It's asking us to have enough wisdom to understand that the truth doesn't require cruelty to defend it. And sometimes the Why is the sentence you can say in an argument is, you know what? Give me a minute. Walk away, cool down, pray. Come back when your goal is reconciliation and understanding, not victory. You know, let's move on. I'll show you something fascinating. Pro Proverbs chapter 26, 4. And this one, this one's a little bit of a mind-bender. 26-4 tells us, answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself. All right, got it. Don't engage fools. But then the very next verse, Proverbs 26, 5, tells us, answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes. Okay, so wait, ⁓ do we answer him or don't answer him? I mean, Solomon was supposedly one of the wisest men ever to walk the face of the earth. Surely he didn't forget what he had literally written just one sentence before. I think this is a ⁓ unique way that Proverbs is trying to teach us what wisdom actually is. There are moments when foolishness needs to be confronted. Bad ideas sometimes need to be answered. Lies sometimes need to be exposed and confronted. Truth sometimes needs to be defended. But there are also moments where engaging simply drags you into the foolishness. Wisdom is knowing which one of those moments you're in. And it's harder than you think. And it's harder than just memorizing a rule of, okay, sometimes speak, sometimes don't. As a wise person, you gotta learn the difference. Think about how useful that can be for all of us with the amount of time we spend online. You know, if somebody posts something absolutely ridiculous and we immediately think, hey, I gotta respond to this. Do you really? Maybe. Maybe the truth needs defending, but maybe this person isn't even interested in the truth. Maybe they're just looking for attention. Maybe they're trolling. Maybe they're just angry and lashing out, or maybe they're absolutely trying to drag you or somebody into an argument. And maybe 20 comments later, you're behaving exactly like the person you were trying to correct. I've been there. Proverbs warned us about that thousands of years ago. Go figure. Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself. Sometimes you can't defeat foolishness by arguing with it. Sometimes you have to defeat it by starving it for attention. Jesus knew when to speak and when to be silent. And ultimately, Proverbs points us to that kind of wisdom that we see. Perfectly in Christ. Jesus could be incredibly bold and direct. He called out and confronted hypocrisy. He challenged the religious leaders. He spoke the truth when the truth needed speaking. But there were also moments where he just refused to participate in anybody else's game. As he stood before Herod, Luke tells us that Jesus was questioned at length, gave no answer. Think about that. The one who literally is the truth. Felt no obligation to respond to a person demanding an answer. I think that's worth remembering. You don't owe everybody access to your attention. You don't don't you don't owe every critic a response. And you don't have to attend every argument that you're invited to. You can walk away, I promise. So here's today's proverbs challenge for for day number two. For the next twenty four hours, just don't say the unnecessary thing. That's it. Not don't speak, not don't tell the truth, not Don't be, you know, not be scared to disagree. Just don't say the unnecessary thing. When the sarcastic comment comes to mind, I don't care how funny it is, I'm gonna hold it. When an insignificant detail gets wrong, let it go. When your spouse does one of those little things that just irritates you, don't worry about it. Ain't no big deal. Just let things go and move on. Is it true? Is it necessary? Will it make anything better? Look, if you ask yourself those questions, maybe you'll discover something. You don't become weak, you don't surrender the truth, you don't lose your voice by simply exercising restraint. Proverbs 29, 11, a fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back. That's the choice. The world says, get it out. Proverbs says, get it under control. So today, say the important things. Tell somebody you love them. Encourage somebody who needs to be lifted up. Defend somebody who can't defend themselves and speak the truth when the truth needs speaking. Apologize if you've got something wrong. Tell your spouse something you appreciate about them. Tell your kids you're proud of them. Use your words. Your words are powerful. But when that unnecessary comment reaches the tip of your tongue, even if it's the absolute perfect comment, perfect comeback, and you're about to say something because you just can't hold it in, just remember. You don't have to. Sometimes wisdom speaks boldly. Sometimes wisdom speaks gently. And sometimes wisdom speaks not at all. Thanks for tuning in, guys. As always, get in your Bible, say your prayers, love one another, and tell the truth. God bless.