Taming the Tongue

 

James 3:6 (NLT) And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.

The words that we speak are very powerful.  The bible states that life and death are in the power of the tongue. (Proverbs 18:21)  This means the life that you want to live is directly linked to the words that you speak.  To be more direct, the quality of your life starts with the following:

  1. The thoughts you think – Proverbs 23:7, As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.
  2. What you believe – Mark 9:23, All things are possible if you believe.
  3. What you speak – Mark 11:23, Whoever says to this mountain, “Be removed and cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.”

Your words are also the color and ink of what is internal in your mind and spirit.  When you are communicating with another person, their mind is a blank white canvas which is colored and painted by your words.  When you are done speaking, the goal is to have the same image of what you communicated to their minds as is yours.  On some occasions, others do not have the same image in their minds from what we have communicated.  The cause is due to mental filters that block, change, and redirect the paintbrush that is operating in their minds.  Have you ever said something to someone, but the other person got offended by what you said, only to realize that they took what you said out of context?  Their mental filter took over the paintbrush and painted what they thought you said and got a totally different image.  Mental filters sometimes come from lack of patience.  We don’t value the other person and start assuming we already know what they are about to say.  I want to be very clear on this matter.  If you don’t have patience for another person, you don’t value the other person, you are thinking only about yourself, and you feel that they are wasting your time.  God wants us to love others just as He has loved us.  How many times has God been patient with us?  Think about it.  God already KNOWS what you are thinking and what you are going to say to Him.  But God never says, “(Sigh) hurry up, you are wasting my time.  I have a universe to run, and a billion other prayers to answer.”  God wants you to come to Him for everything.  He is patient because He values YOU.

The worst thing you can ever do is to say negative things about others and yourself.  Stop saying, “Oh, I can’t remember this because I’m getting old!”  Or, “I sick and tired of this or that.” You are condemning yourself.   James 4:11 “Do not speak evil of one another, brethren.”

Be Blessed

Ron Cobbs Ministries © Copyright May 18th, 2024, All Rights Reserved

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