TOPIC: Deadly Poison TEXT: Even a fool is regarded as wise when he controls his tongue - Prov. 17:28. MEMORY VERSE: If you claim to be religious but dont control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. - James 1:26 NLT MESSAGE: Never really took the popular saying small but mighty to be this serious until I got a perfect example from the scripture. The tongue seems to be one of the smallest parts of the body yet it is the most analysed part in the Word. Uncle James went as far as warning us of its ability to set the entire body on fire. My table was in a total mess, an empty 25 litre keg just beside a cup thats filled with clean water. Took a closer look and realized I was in trouble, my textbooks and notes all drenched in water. You sure dont wanna know what just happened. My younger brother just emptied a full 25 litre keg of water into a small glass cup... How wise of him? The bible says out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45b). This tells us something very straight and simple; it is not everything that is in the heart that the mouth says, but out of it. Is it wise for the tongue to say all that is in the mind? Death and life are in the power of the tongue (Prov. 18:21) because the tongue helps to show forth the side which one decides to follow. Jesus said it is not what goes into a man that defiles him but what comes out of him. We might have little or no control over what we hear but we have every control over what we say. The importance of the tongue can never be exaggerated. According to James 3:2, it is a tip for perfection. The bible says the issues of life come out from the heart but how do they come out? From the mouth, which means your words determine how the issues of your life would go... Matt. 12:37 tells how far our words can take us concerning our lives. The bible even went ahead to give us a strategy of being slow to speak (James 1:19). If our mind is even filled with only good things and weve completely won the battle of the mind (if possible). The bible is still saying it is not everything you have to say but out of it. The water in the 25 litre keg was clean but my brother didnt have to pour it all, emptying the keg made even the clean water destructive. The wisest man that ever lived said something about words in due season (Prov. 15:23). Some thoughts are even good and profitable but the question is; is it in due season. No matter how good the thoughts and intention might be if it destroys another person the Bible doesnt regard you as wise (Prov. 12:18). Isaiah did not brag about speaking good words but about speaking them in the right season to bring life to a weary man. If only we can think about the effect of words (no matter how good they are) before saying them. In conclusion, Jer. 1:10 teaches us that God has set us over nations to root out, to pull down, to build and to plant. How do we do this? From our tongues! From today lets determine to speak words that build up, that edify...lets stop destroying people with our tongues. PRAYER: I learn by the power of the Holy Spirit to bridle my tongue. CONFESSION: I choose life, I speak life! FURTHER READING: James 3
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 03:00:00 +0000
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