Why don’t we use Ecclesiasticus 28:12 (Sirach) to jump start this article about the mouth. “Blow on a spark and it flares up; spit on it and it goes out – both come from the mouth.”
Oh, that mouth of ours; that hurtful, spiteful, vicious weapon; yet so small when compared to other parts of our body. And out of that same mouth comes praise and loving words for the people we care about in our life. Whether they are good or harsh words, once they go out, you can’t get them back. What to do with such a contradictory creature such as this? Thankfully, the Bible has been answering this question for us as far back as 1500 B.C. in Psalms 34:14, and all the way up to 65 A.D. in James 3:3-12.
If we believe that the Bible is the inspired word from God, then it is the Lord, Himself, who is instructing us to be watchful over our tongue and mouth. It sounds rather point blank to me: “Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceitful speech.” Psalms 34:14.
It hits home even harder when you think about having to give an account to God on that judgment day of everything that came out of your mouth. Ouch. “But I say unto you, that every idle word that man shall speak, they shall give account therefore in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” Matthew 12:36-37.
Slow to Speak.
Our words come out so quickly, most of the time too quickly. If we could only take a moment to think before we speak; and it only does take a moment. If we follow Jesus’ advice about do not judge others and treat people how we would like to be treated, perhaps this will help you curb that nasty tongue. We all know words hurt. We all know words can lift us up. Why be the cause of someone else’s pain because you could not hold back your tongue? If you could not care less about hurting others, why should they give a heck about you. Oftentimes neutral can be better than drive, meaning if you do not have anything nice to say, drop down into neutral and just do not say anything, instead of gearing up into drive and running over the person.
My lips shall not speak wickedness.
Matthew was quoting Jesus when he wrote in 15:18, “But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this defiles a person.” Perhaps our tainted mouth has a deeper root cause; we’re just not feeling right inside. You can fix that. God gives us instruction in how to do just that in Psalms 51:10, “Create in me a clean heart, O, God; and renew a right spirit in me.” There are so many verses of Scriptures zeroed in on this very topic: Proverbs 12:14, “A man gets his fill of good from the fruit of his speech.” Job 27:3-4, “All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils; my lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.” I urge you to read James 3:3-12 in its entirety. He says it far better than I can.
So what’s the bottom line here?
- Frank Paul, The Sower.