“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit” (Proverbs 18:21).
Dear Heavenly Father, I thank You for the very valuable lessons You have taught us during this series on the use of the tongue. Please help us to be mindful of the potential for good or evil, of this small, but powerful organ. May we be faithful in allowing our lips to bring You honor and glory! In the holy name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.
This will be our last devotional in this series, for now. I am sure that we will be revisiting this topic from time to time, as there will always be new lessons to learn on the proper use of the tongue, whether that be verbally, or in writing, especially in today’s media-ridden society of texting, emailing, blogging. NOTE: whenever we use words, we are using our tongue.
We return to James’ letter, “To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad”
“For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh” (James 3:7-12, emphasis supplied).
Yesterday we emphasized the fact that there are no grey areas with God. Something is not, not too bad, or not so good. It is either right or wrong. There is no compromise between good and evil. In the Scripture we just read, the Word of God makes it very plain that in our speech there is no place for blessing and cursing! And further emphasis is added with these words: “these things ought not to be so.”
My friends, if people are to be blessed by our words, our words must be spoken with clarity, and in love. They must not hear us cursing a brother or sister one day, and blessing the Lord the day after. This can create confusion, and rejection of God and His word! The Savior said that people would know us, as His disciples, by our love to one another (John 13:34, 35). Our love must be reflected in everything we do, including the way we speak!
In nature, if we saw an apple tree bearing oranges, we would be surprised! God’s word informs us that we are known by our fruit! When people hear us being unkind in word, the face of God is distorted, because Christians are known as followers of Christ!
The Good News, God’s Word, points us to the only source of good-fruit-bearing, the Holy Spirit (See Galatians 5:22, 23)! If we allow Him to come into our lives He will take over, and our speech will be life-inspiring, life-renewing, and uplifting! Our tongues will exert the power of life upon all who come under it’s influence, and the Holy Spirit will be the One who will teach us how to watch our tongue!