Say What? Watch Your Mouth!

Controlling the tongue is a tedious discipline that is bound to keep you busy.

James 1:26  If anyone thinks he is religious without controlling his tongue, then his religion is useless and he deceives himself.

James 3:1-12  Not many should become teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive a stricter judgment, 2 for we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a mature man who is also able to control his whole body. 

3 Now when we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we also guide the whole animal. 4 And consider ships: Though very large and driven by fierce winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So too, though the tongue is a small part of the body, it boasts great things. Consider how large a forest a small fire ignites. 6 And the tongue is a fire. The tongue, a world of unrighteousness, is placed among the parts of our bodies. It pollutes the whole body, sets the course of life on fire, and is set on fire by hell.  Read more... 

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What a description that we have on the power of the tongue, a single match has the potential to start a huge wildfire. Maybe it was just a drive by, one of those careless moments when the match is tossed out a car window without realizing the potential. Too often we can have a verbal drive by where we carelessly toss out some words and then the sparks begin to fly.

James tell us that we should not think too highly of ourselves if we cannot control our tongue. He tells us that there is a connection between what we say and what is in our heart. Maybe he was around when Jesus told the Pharisees that they didn't have any chance of speaking anything other than evil because of the condition of their heart.

Matthew12:34  Brood of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.

 If we want to control our tongue then we need to control what goes into our mind and what we dwell on in our heart. I need to be "digging the word" of God everyday so that I will keep my mind and my meditations focused on seeing things from God's point of view. That way I can speak about things from God's point of view.

Psalms 19:14  May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You, Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.

Help me Lord to always be slow to speak and to be mindful of the conversations that I have.

Keep Your Word

Even if it hurts.

Matthew 5:37  Just say a simple, 'Yes, I will,' or 'No, I won't.' Anything beyond this is from the evil one.

2 Corinthians 1:17-20  You may be asking why I changed my plan. Do you think I make my plans carelessly? Do you think I am like people of the world who say "Yes" when they really mean "No"?  18  As surely as God is faithful, my word to you does not waver between "Yes" and "No." 

19  For Jesus Christ, the Son of God, does not waver between "Yes" and "No." He is the One whom Silas, Timothy, and I preached to you, and as God's ultimate "Yes," He always does what He says.  20  For all of God's promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding "Yes!" And through Christ, our "Amen" (which means "Yes") ascends to God for His glory.

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A promise doesn't mean much these days, it used to be that a man lived up to his word at any cost but these days if the cost or the inconvenience is too great then you will have to wonder if he will come through.

What a difference it would make if Jesus didn't keep his word, he promised us that he was going to die and rise again and he kept his promise, that gives me the confidence to believe that he will keep his word and return for me someday.

I need to be careful when I make a promise, it doesn't help my witness if I don't follow through, living with integrity can be inconvenient some times.

Help me Lord to be wise when I make promises to you or to those around me.

Related articles

• Giving thanks for what? (wordsofgrace.wordpress.com)

A Disciple Of Jesus Should Sound Like One

Wagging the tongue is dangerous work.

Matthew 12:34-35  You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say.  35  A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart.

Ephesians 4:29  Don't use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.

Colossians 3:17  And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

Proverbs 4:23-24  Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.  24  Avoid all perverse talk; stay away from corrupt speech.

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The tongue is such a powerful body part with great potential to do good or to cause great harm. The choice is ours, we can make a habit of blessing or we can pass out curses, but how do you determine what is going to come out?

It is difficult to hide the words that come to mind and filter them continuously, sooner or later those ugly words pop out, after all the heart is what is really subconsciously controlling the tongue. We have to guard our hearts in order to keep a guard on our tongue, Jesus told the Pharisees that they didn't have much of a chance to say the right thing because of their heart condition.

Jesus disciple should be giving words of instruction not words of destruction, the culture that we live in is full of destructive speaking habits, our words need to be attractive to the culture. The words that we speak are not neutral, if our words are not attractive to the culture and cause them to come closer to the Lord then they are probably causing them to turn from the Lord.

James 3:10  And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!

What a tattle tale the tongue is, letting everybody know what is inside of my heart,  I need to be sure that I make my tongue a source of blessing and truth so that others will be drawn to the faith instead of being scared away.

I pray Lord that people will be drawn closer to you and to belief of the gospel by the words that I speak. Forgive me for those times when my mouth doesn't sound like it belongs to you.

Your Words Are Telling On You

scripture

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Matthew 12:33-37  “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit.

You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.  The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.  

But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Luke 6:45  The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.

observation

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Are you capable of producing good fruit? Only if you are a good fruit tree. It is easy to tell what kind of fruit tree you are looking at if it is the right season and you can see the fruit. Those of us that are a part of God’s family better be producing fruit it should be on our tree year round. And it better be good fruit or else you should be watching out for the pruning shears.

Jesus said “blessed are the pure in heart” in the sermon on the mount and now he tells us that the condition of the heart can be known by the things that come out of our mouths.

Proverbs 16:23  A wise man's heart guides his mouth, and his lips promote instruction.

Since your words are a display of the condition of your heart then by your words you will be judged. It should scare us some to thing that Jesus said that by every “careless” word we will be judged, what a serious thing it is to open our mouths and yet most people just open up and let it fly.

David, “the man after God’s own heart” had it right when he prayed:

Psalms 19:14  May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

application

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It is a very serious issue to flippantly say just anything that comes to mind. I must always remember that my words say a lot about who I am and what I believe and what I believe affects my decisions which then affects my fruit (decisions and actions).

prayer

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You are an awesome God and I want to thank you for your word. I pray just like David did that my words and the meditations of my heart will be pleasing to you. My desire is to produce fruit and be productive for you until take me home.