Hold thy Tongue!

Proverbs tells us of wisdom.

Proverbs 18:21 "Death and life are in the power of the tongue and those who love it will eat it's fruit."

Uh, God, isn't that a bit drastic? Can't you just make it a bit nicer?

What sort of Christians are we anyway? Do we believe what God says? (If we don't - why be a Christian - He might not have meant it when He said He took away your sin.) If we do - Why don't we live like it?!?

So what is He saying? That what we say has power to give death and life. If you love to talk you will eat the fruit of what you say.

Some verses to look at about things to do with the mouth:
Psalm 15:1-4
¹LORD, WHO shall dwell [temporarily] in Your tabernacle? Who shall dwell [permanently] on Your holy hill? ²He who walks and lives uprightly and blamelessly, who works rightness and justice and speaks and thinks the truth in his heart, ³He who does not slander with his tongue, nor does evil to his friend, nor takes up a reproach against his neighbour; ⁴In whose eyes a vile person is despised, but he who honours those who fear the Lord (who revere and worship Him); who swears to his own hurt and does not change;

Proverbs 12:3 He who hides hatred is of lying lips, and he who utters slander is a [self-confident] fool.

Proverbs 26:22 The words of a whisperer or slanderer are like dainty morsels or words of sport [to some, but to others are like deadly wounds]; and they go down into the innermost parts of the body [or of the victim's nature].

Proverbs 31:26 "She opens her mouth in skilful and godly Wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness [giving counsel and instruction]."

and

Proverbs 31:27 "She looks well to how things go in her household, and the bread of idleness (gossip, discontent, and self-pity) she will not eat."

Psalm 37:30 "The mouth of the [uncompromisingly] righteous utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks with justice."

So for all the maths people:

Slander = death
Gossip = death
Wisdom = life
Kindness = life
Truth = life

And so on.

In James 3:2 "For we all often stumble and fall and offend in many things. And if anyone does not offend in speech [never says the wrong things], he is a fully developed character and a perfect man, able to control his whole body and to curb his entire nature."

Last night coming home I was feeling rather cranky. I had a heavy headache, and I had nearly an hour's further drive home by myself at 10:00.

So I started complaining to God about it. Pleading with God to get me home sooner. Somehow...

After praying (yes I was praying) for a few minutes I had the guts to pray something real and I thanked God for what He had done for me. Then I spoke to my body. I commanded the headache to leave. And told a few other things to be right. (I can't remember what.) But afterward I felt so much better. The heaviness was gone.

Now note that while I did pray, I did not ask God to take away my headache. I just commanded it to go. And it left. Why? Because I have power in my mouth, and it had to obey.

So if that is what I can do for good, what is all this complaining, finding fault, gossip, slander, etc., doing to us?!

James 3 gives us a lot of instruction on the effect of our tongues. I suggest you go read it now. :)

And next time you want to say something bad - about yourself, someone else, a situation, etc., remember you have power in your mouth - power to change that situation.