“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit” (Proverbs 18:21).
Dear God, as we begin our conversation today, You know who will need to hear a word from You. So please be close to us, speak to us, and lead us into all truth. This I ask in the Powerful Name of Jesus the Christ. Amen.
As human beings we tend to parcel out things in categories. Then we break them down by their importance, good, not so good, bad, not so bad, necessary, unnecessary. We do this a lot with moral issues. So we create what is called “grey areas.”
If you take a rifle and murder someone, you are considered a terrible person. You are a murderer. You have sinned against God and your brother or sister. But if you kill someone with your tongue, by gossiping, that does not seem to count as a sin. You are just a gossip-er. Is there such a thing?
Not so with God. Sin is sin in His sight. There are no grey areas with God. Listen to what His Word has to say:
“These six things the Lord hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren” (Proverbs 6:16, emphasis supplied).
Notice that God has a group of seven misdemeanors and felony all placed together, all categorized as abominations. Not bad, and worse, or not so bad. He makes no distinction between them. They are all considered sin. God hates these things, and considers them abominable.
No one will send you to prison for having a proud look, or sowing discord among brethren, unless someone is hurt, and it can be indisputably traced to you. But in God’s sight they are all sinful deeds.
Notice how many of these behaviors are linked to the tongue (those that I have italicized). Let us briefly consider them.
- A lying tongue. This needs no further consideration. It speaks for itself
- A heart that devises wicked plans. All evil begins on the inside. Jesus said that it is what comes out of a person that defiles the person (Please see Matthew 15:17-20; Mark 7:18-21).
- A false witness who speaks lies. This speaks for itself.
- One who sows discord among brethren. The tongue is famous for doing this. “You said.” “And she said,” “And they said.” And when it is all said and done, families and churches, and communities, are divided asunder by the discord that sinful tongues have sown among them.
Dear friends, let us be very careful with the use we give to our tongues. Personally, I do not want to do anything that God hates. So by God’s grace, I am going to watch my tongue! I pray you will too.