- The Tongue
- We would use God’s wisdom to govern the words spoken from the tongue.
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Luke 6:45 // For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.
Proverbs 4:23 // Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
Matthew 15:11 (NLT) // “It’s not what goes into your mouth that defiles you; you are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth.”
- 4 Powers of the Tongue
- The Power to Condemn
James 3:1-2 // Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, and able to keep their whole body in check.
Matthew 12:36-37 // But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”
- The tongue has condemning power
- The solution: consider it an honor to teach doing it with reverence and respect.
- The Power to Control
James 3:2-5 // When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts.
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- The tongue has controlling power.
- The solution: learn to shut our mouths.
Proverbs 13:3 (NLT) // Those who control their tongue will have a long life; opening your mouth can ruin everything.
- “even a fish wouldn't get into trouble if he kept his mouth shut.”
- The Power to Corrupt
James 3:5-8 // Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
- The tongue has corrupting power
- The solution: Let the Lord guard your mouth
Psalm 141:3 // Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.
James 3:9-12 // With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
- The tongue has contradicting power
- The solution: Use my words to praise, encourage, lift, inspire, advise, guide, love, comfort, bless, and affirm.
- Is it true?
- Is it kind?
- Is it necessary?
- “Heavenly Father, today, allow me to say some worthwhile stuff. But I ask that you nudge me when I’ve said enough. Amen."
