God help us-what our speech says about our life with God
Posted by Gary on July 16, 2008
In recent weeks I have been thinking about and stressing the Bible’s teaching about our speech. It is very easy to claim to love God and be close to Him but God has multiple diagnostics that He runs on us to reveal whether our claim of love for Him and claim to spiritual health is true. Perhaps one of the most revealing areas of our lives as it touches love for God and spiritual health is the use of our mouths. Here is a sampling of verses from God’s Word on the use of our mouths, they require no further elaboration:
Proverbs 12:18-19 “There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. Truthful lips will be established forever, but a lying tongue is only for a moment.”
Proverbs 15:4 “A soothing tongue is a tree of life, but perversion in it crushes the spirit.”
Proverbs 18:21 “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”
Ephesians 4:29 “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”
Colossians 4:6 “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”
Proverbs 21:23 “He who guards his mouth and his tongue, guards his soul from troubles.”
Proverbs 26:28 “A lying tongue hates those it crushes, and a flattering mouth works ruin.”
Matthew 12:33-37 "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."
Matthew 15:18 "But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man.”
James 1:26 “If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless.”
Listen to most people and they will insist that they have a good heart. First, does the Bible ever tell us that our heart is good? No, it tells us that our hearts are deceitful and wicked beyond even our own knowledge of them (Jeremiah 17:9).
Beyond this, now we have Jesus teaching us that what comes out of our mouths is the true revelation of what is in our hearts. We gossip. slander, curse, boast and lie and then insist that we are people with “good hearts.” Here the great majority leave the narrow way, only a few by God’s grace will acknowledge that their mouth is the undeniable test of where they are with God and will humble themselves in repentance and seek God’s grace. The majority take the broad path of denial and justification, “Yes, I know that the Bible forbids what just came out of my mouth but my heart is still good.” Every man’s way is right in his own eyes (Proverbs 21:2).
Nothing should cause us to see that we are sinners and in need of redemption more than our mouths. May God grant us the grace to face the truth about ourselves as revealed by our speech.
By God’s grace we need to get into the practice of thinking and praying before we speak. Sin leads us to say whatever enters our heads but grace enables us to think and when needed, to pray before we speak. Here are a few things for us to think about before we speak:
- What am I about to say?
- Why am I going to say what I am about to say? or What is my motive for saying what I am about to say?
- Is what I am going to say true?
- Is what I am going to say helpful?
- Is what I am going to say honoring to God?
- Am I about to talk about someone or something that is not my business or my listener’s business?
- Could more good come from me leaving it unsaid?
Comments
2 Responses to “God help us-what our speech says about our life with God”Leave a comment, and if you'd like your own picture to show up next to your comments, go get a gravatar!
Great post Gary! I have been peaching through the book of James over the past couple of months and this topic has been constantly on my mind. Nothing reveals the condition of our hearts quicker than our tongues, and we would do well to heed the warnings throughout the Scriptures to think before we speak.
Steve,
How great to hear from you brother. The reason I titled the post, “God help us” was because of my understanding of my own sin and failure in this area even as I challenge others.
Aren’t we grateful that salvation is by grace? I think the important thing to emphasize is that a Christian becomes conscious of the use of their mouth, they seek by God’s grace to be holy with their mouth and they repent when they sin with their mouth.
May God help us.
Love to you and your family.