Oh, that Fire, that Tongue, that Tongue...
Oh, that Fire, that Tongue, that Tongue...
In this day, we are pretty consumed with our bodies; we are very health and beauty-concious. We want very much to prolong our lives from the physical perspective and to look our best while we're at it. It isn't a bad thing at all, to have these pursuits, since the Bible declares that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit--and we should give them great care. There must be a prioritizing of things, however; our physical bodies are not first on God's list, but at the top of His list: that our "soul should prosper". The Scripture in Psalm 34, provides the formula for living a long and peaceful life. What must we do? First: KEEP THY TONGUE FROM EVIL! That is striking! It is striking because, on the surface, it doesn't seem like such a big thing--in terms of prolonging life! Also, because often it seems as if this is the very thing we neglect to give care to, the most! We allow our tongues to say whatever they will without thought, or to lie--with great thought, or to speak harm without any consideration of the deep damage that such a small, but fiery member can do without some restraint.
Our tongues seem to operate separately from our bodies, without any controls from within! We say hurtful, mean and downright ungodly things--and justify it with "that's just my personality" or admonish the people that we lash out at that they are overly sensitive! The reason so there is so much emphasis on what we say is, because there is so much power, in the tongue! The Word declares, that "there is death and life in the power of the tongue". We tend to use this Scripture in one way--in terms of the things we want added to our lives. But, the tongue has power to destroy the speaker (if you don't guard it and surrender it to God [because you cannot tame it] to tame. It will destroy you!) Remember, what comes out of our mouths defiles us--and proceeds from our hearts. Our tongues can easily destroy others--we like to say others shouldn't be so sensitive, etc. Why do we place the onus on the offended and not on the offender? The Word of God does just the opposite! Our tongues can destroy reputations, a person's witness (and that is potentially far-reaching), a free spirit (causing walls/boundaries to go up where they shouldn't exist), trust, loyalty, and so much more--and all of these are important for growth in the Body of Christ. It really doesn't matter whether the person offended is sensitive or not--the Word doesn't address that--the admonishment is to the speaker--keep thy tongue from evil...no disclaimer is given regarding the sensitivity of the person we are speaking to or about.
The second life-prolonging command deals with our mouths, as well. Keep your lips from speaking guile...telling lies, deception, falsehoods--just don't do it! The lake of fire is enlarging its borders for liars. People think of lying as natural and necessary--they even distinguish between types of lies??? for instance white lies, lies told to avoid hurting someones feelings, etc. The Word does not provide any exceptions for lying. ALL liars shall have their part in the Lake of Fire. If we recognized the harm that lying does--perhaps, we would not do it. Clearly, lying has eternal consequences--so then, why do church folk lie so much? Lies and rumors are a cancer in the church. It seems as if one slows down and another is rampantly spreading coast to coast and beyond! How is it that God's people are so comfortable with lying and spreading lies--and understand--if you spread it ( even if it did not originate with you) you become a liar, too! Once it proceeds from your lips you have lied and willingly taken part in spreading that lie. You can't say you didn't know it wasn't true--too late, you were key in keeping that filth perpetuated. Lying, too, is one of those things--once you tell one lie, another isn't far behind. I sincerely believe, that our tongues keep us from being perfected much more than anything else.
None of the "things" we do in the Kingdom--preaching, teaching, singing, etc. will cleanse us from the deeds of our tongues--or, keep us from the penalty for its deeds. It is definitely time for us--personally, and corporately, too to repent for the damage our tongues have inflicted upon and within the Body of Christ. There are souls lost because of the misdeeds of our tongues! Still, we blame the lost soul for being too weak, too sensitive, too whatever, when the root of the problem is somebody's out of control tongue. It is just wrong. We need to repent and ask forgiveness--not only of God (although He is greatly offended when we harm even "the least of these"), but we need to ask forgiveness of those we have offended--even if we have to find them, it's important. Apologies are so rare among us. I think the world recognizes the emotional value of apologizing and does it more readily than we do!
We have become so self-righteous that we would rather sweep our errors under the rug and act as if our offenses never happened--there is no more room under that rug!!! We must stop worrying about how we will be perceived if we are seen apologizing. It is the right thing to do, when we offend. Our own righteousness really is "filthy rags". It keeps us from doing so much that is, in reality, "right". Self-righteousness causes us to speak evil. If we didn't possess so much self-righteousness we wouldn't have anything evil to say about others. It's only when we have so much confidence in our own flesh, that we feel justified in tearing down someone else. Gossip and rumors emanate from self-righteousness. It is the thought that "I would never do that" that gives license to the tongue to speak about the person who may have fallen short--or may not have. I'm curious; what happened to going to your brother or sister when you hear something? Why do we go to everyone, but them, with what we hear? How have we arrived at this place--reading the Word of God--claiming to be believers of the Word that we read and "On our way to Heaven and I'm so glad"??? We shorten our lives and we help satanic forces strike blows against the Body of Christ that we claim to be a part of and cherish. What are we going to do about this crisis?
The rest of this life prolonging command: "depart from evil"--number three. That is the first part of rectifying the damage done. Stop! Depart from your wicked ways! Make a conscious decision that you will no longer be a vehicle to transport garbage throughout the Kingdom. Decide, that you will from this day forward use your tongue for good, and not for evil. You will not let evil communication proceed out of your mouth, because you know that it is not possible for true good and evil to come from the same place. Today, you will surrender that unruly tongue to the only One who is able to tame it! "Do Good".
Once you stop doing something wrong--and your "house" is swept and clean, you need to fill it with good and positive things. Replace the negative with what you know to be holy, honorable and right. That doesn't mean you need to be stoic and walk around with your nose in your Bible around the clock! You can have fun--but, not at the expense of someone else and definitely not at the expense of the Body of Christ or your own life.
Finally, "Seek Peace, and Pursue It!" You cannot find peace while your tongue is sowing discord or killing another. To find peace, you must allow the Holy Spirit to control your tongue (and your heart); you must be willing to surrender that drive to "talk too much". Hear what the Word has to say on the issue. We will never have peace in our midst as long as we allow our tongues to pursue evil instead of peace. The true pursuit of peace will keep you quiet; it will cause you to think before you speak. The pursuit of peace won't make excuses for sin, but it will bring us to the place that we acknowledge our errors and ask God and the offended person for forgiveness and then, in grace, live a life that doesn't tear down, but builds up.
"If my people, which are called by My Name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My Face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. II Chronicles 7:14
Love & Blessings,
Lisa
In this day, we are pretty consumed with our bodies; we are very health and beauty-concious. We want very much to prolong our lives from the physical perspective and to look our best while we're at it. It isn't a bad thing at all, to have these pursuits, since the Bible declares that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit--and we should give them great care. There must be a prioritizing of things, however; our physical bodies are not first on God's list, but at the top of His list: that our "soul should prosper". The Scripture in Psalm 34, provides the formula for living a long and peaceful life. What must we do? First: KEEP THY TONGUE FROM EVIL! That is striking! It is striking because, on the surface, it doesn't seem like such a big thing--in terms of prolonging life! Also, because often it seems as if this is the very thing we neglect to give care to, the most! We allow our tongues to say whatever they will without thought, or to lie--with great thought, or to speak harm without any consideration of the deep damage that such a small, but fiery member can do without some restraint.
Our tongues seem to operate separately from our bodies, without any controls from within! We say hurtful, mean and downright ungodly things--and justify it with "that's just my personality" or admonish the people that we lash out at that they are overly sensitive! The reason so there is so much emphasis on what we say is, because there is so much power, in the tongue! The Word declares, that "there is death and life in the power of the tongue". We tend to use this Scripture in one way--in terms of the things we want added to our lives. But, the tongue has power to destroy the speaker (if you don't guard it and surrender it to God [because you cannot tame it] to tame. It will destroy you!) Remember, what comes out of our mouths defiles us--and proceeds from our hearts. Our tongues can easily destroy others--we like to say others shouldn't be so sensitive, etc. Why do we place the onus on the offended and not on the offender? The Word of God does just the opposite! Our tongues can destroy reputations, a person's witness (and that is potentially far-reaching), a free spirit (causing walls/boundaries to go up where they shouldn't exist), trust, loyalty, and so much more--and all of these are important for growth in the Body of Christ. It really doesn't matter whether the person offended is sensitive or not--the Word doesn't address that--the admonishment is to the speaker--keep thy tongue from evil...no disclaimer is given regarding the sensitivity of the person we are speaking to or about.
The second life-prolonging command deals with our mouths, as well. Keep your lips from speaking guile...telling lies, deception, falsehoods--just don't do it! The lake of fire is enlarging its borders for liars. People think of lying as natural and necessary--they even distinguish between types of lies??? for instance white lies, lies told to avoid hurting someones feelings, etc. The Word does not provide any exceptions for lying. ALL liars shall have their part in the Lake of Fire. If we recognized the harm that lying does--perhaps, we would not do it. Clearly, lying has eternal consequences--so then, why do church folk lie so much? Lies and rumors are a cancer in the church. It seems as if one slows down and another is rampantly spreading coast to coast and beyond! How is it that God's people are so comfortable with lying and spreading lies--and understand--if you spread it ( even if it did not originate with you) you become a liar, too! Once it proceeds from your lips you have lied and willingly taken part in spreading that lie. You can't say you didn't know it wasn't true--too late, you were key in keeping that filth perpetuated. Lying, too, is one of those things--once you tell one lie, another isn't far behind. I sincerely believe, that our tongues keep us from being perfected much more than anything else.
None of the "things" we do in the Kingdom--preaching, teaching, singing, etc. will cleanse us from the deeds of our tongues--or, keep us from the penalty for its deeds. It is definitely time for us--personally, and corporately, too to repent for the damage our tongues have inflicted upon and within the Body of Christ. There are souls lost because of the misdeeds of our tongues! Still, we blame the lost soul for being too weak, too sensitive, too whatever, when the root of the problem is somebody's out of control tongue. It is just wrong. We need to repent and ask forgiveness--not only of God (although He is greatly offended when we harm even "the least of these"), but we need to ask forgiveness of those we have offended--even if we have to find them, it's important. Apologies are so rare among us. I think the world recognizes the emotional value of apologizing and does it more readily than we do!
We have become so self-righteous that we would rather sweep our errors under the rug and act as if our offenses never happened--there is no more room under that rug!!! We must stop worrying about how we will be perceived if we are seen apologizing. It is the right thing to do, when we offend. Our own righteousness really is "filthy rags". It keeps us from doing so much that is, in reality, "right". Self-righteousness causes us to speak evil. If we didn't possess so much self-righteousness we wouldn't have anything evil to say about others. It's only when we have so much confidence in our own flesh, that we feel justified in tearing down someone else. Gossip and rumors emanate from self-righteousness. It is the thought that "I would never do that" that gives license to the tongue to speak about the person who may have fallen short--or may not have. I'm curious; what happened to going to your brother or sister when you hear something? Why do we go to everyone, but them, with what we hear? How have we arrived at this place--reading the Word of God--claiming to be believers of the Word that we read and "On our way to Heaven and I'm so glad"??? We shorten our lives and we help satanic forces strike blows against the Body of Christ that we claim to be a part of and cherish. What are we going to do about this crisis?
The rest of this life prolonging command: "depart from evil"--number three. That is the first part of rectifying the damage done. Stop! Depart from your wicked ways! Make a conscious decision that you will no longer be a vehicle to transport garbage throughout the Kingdom. Decide, that you will from this day forward use your tongue for good, and not for evil. You will not let evil communication proceed out of your mouth, because you know that it is not possible for true good and evil to come from the same place. Today, you will surrender that unruly tongue to the only One who is able to tame it! "Do Good".
Once you stop doing something wrong--and your "house" is swept and clean, you need to fill it with good and positive things. Replace the negative with what you know to be holy, honorable and right. That doesn't mean you need to be stoic and walk around with your nose in your Bible around the clock! You can have fun--but, not at the expense of someone else and definitely not at the expense of the Body of Christ or your own life.
Finally, "Seek Peace, and Pursue It!" You cannot find peace while your tongue is sowing discord or killing another. To find peace, you must allow the Holy Spirit to control your tongue (and your heart); you must be willing to surrender that drive to "talk too much". Hear what the Word has to say on the issue. We will never have peace in our midst as long as we allow our tongues to pursue evil instead of peace. The true pursuit of peace will keep you quiet; it will cause you to think before you speak. The pursuit of peace won't make excuses for sin, but it will bring us to the place that we acknowledge our errors and ask God and the offended person for forgiveness and then, in grace, live a life that doesn't tear down, but builds up.
"If my people, which are called by My Name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My Face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. II Chronicles 7:14
Love & Blessings,
Lisa
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