The Power of The Tongue!

[Angelina]

Our tongue can negatively affect those around us, including our spouse, our children, family, and friends, "for with it we can curse people who are made in the image of God, and from the same mouth we can also bless, which should not be so." (James 3:10)

James 3:5–6 says that "the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!" And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell."

The Bible tells us that the tongue is a restless evil full of deadly poison. (James 3:8) When speaking to the Pharisees, Jesus said that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. (Matt 13:34.) For out of the heart come evil thoughts: murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. (Matt 15:19.)

The tongue is like a fountain, and from out of it flows the condition of one's heart.

I had a recent discussion with a member who had difficulty being able to have a normal conversation without cussing. I used to have this problem as a young person and basically new to the church body until a sister mentioned that every second word I said was a cuss word. I did not realise this until she mentioned it, and it struck me like a full-on revelation. I am grateful to this sister today, as I would not have realised it's effect on others or my testimony as a new adherent.

God was showing me that it was not appropriate in his environment or any environment as a believer. Suddenly there appeared to be a quickening in my spirit before speaking anything out loud, and I began to change my words.

You do not need to cuss to string a sentence together; you just need to be aware of who you are and who you represent.

After a while, your mouth will train itself with the help and conviction of the Holy Spirit, and eventually those cuss words will disappear from your vocabulary. As a matter of fact, it will begin to sound uncomfortable to your ears when others speak that way too.

The outworking of changing the way you speak will not only affect your walk with God but also those who once knew you. It creates a chain reaction that has had many positive benefits for your old friends and new ones along your path.

Glory to God!

Angelina
(last posted in 10/10/24)

 

[Hidden In Him]

The tongue is like a fountain, and from out of it flows the condition of one's heart.

I had a recent discussion with a member who had difficulty being able to have a normal conversation without cussing. I used to have this problem as a young person and basically new to the church body until a sister mentioned that every second word I said was a cuss word.

I had a similar problem. Pretty foul mouthed when I came to Christ. But I remember a guy that I worked with telling me a few years later that he never heard me curse, as if to say my testimony was good. Unfortunately that did not last. Not long after that, I fell into a relationship God never called me to, and I became so miserable and angry that my "spotless" vocabulary started going South again, and eventually I was right back where I started from.

As you say, it's the condition of your heart that will end up flowing from your mouth. And I think the problem might sometimes be that the standards of the word are not held up. Scripture teaches that we should speak only that which edifies others and in James 3 he complained about how, "With [the tongue] 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."

I think it starts with our hearts being in a bad place, and angry, bitter or resentful. But when our mouth reveals our heart's condition, we need to fix it so we don't stay in that place forever. As scripture also teaches, "Don't let the sun go down on your wrath."

 

[Juliarod]

Our tongue can negatively affect those around us, including our spouse, our children, family, and friends, "for with it we can curse people who are made in the image of God, and from the same mouth we can also bless, which should not be so." (James 3:10)

James 3:5–6 says that "the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!" And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell."

The Bible tells us that the tongue is a restless evil full of deadly poison. (James 3:8) When speaking to the Pharisees, Jesus said that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. (Matt 13:34.) For out of the heart come evil thoughts: murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. (Matt 15:19.)

The tongue is like a fountain, and from out of it flows the condition of one's heart.

I had a recent discussion with a member who had difficulty being able to have a normal conversation without cussing. I used to have this problem as a young person and basically new to the church body until a sister mentioned that every second word I said was a cuss word. I did not realise this until she mentioned it, and it struck me like a full-on revelation. I am grateful to this sister today, as I would not have realised it's effect on others or my testimony as a new adherent.

God was showing me that it was not appropriate in his environment or any environment as a believer. Suddenly there appeared to be a quickening in my spirit before speaking anything out loud, and I began to change my words.

You do not need to cuss to string a sentence together; you just need to be aware of who you are and who you represent.

After a while, your mouth will train itself with the help and conviction of the Holy Spirit, and eventually those cuss words will disappear from your vocabulary. As a matter of fact, it will begin to sound uncomfortable to your ears when others speak that way too.

The outworking of changing the way you speak will not only affect your walk with God but also those who once knew you. It creates a chain reaction that has had many positive benefits for your old friends and new ones along your path.

Glory to God!

Angelina
(last posted in 10/10/24)

I don't "cuss" so much in English but sometimes a word will come out in Spanish that is more "coarse" and I probably shouldn't use. Now, my husband and I use some words privately outside from our children hearing but that is different and just sexual between us usually (I'm not sure if this makes sense). I think your point here is helpful to remind me that our words and style of speaking even is reflection of what is in our heart. "I must decrease and He must increase" for sure applies to this as I think about it for me in my own life. We never know who we are affecting and who might be listening.

 

[jonathanbrickman0000]

One of the odd learnings available, is that before Queen Victoria in the 1800's, there were no sets of words in English, which were considered "appropriate" and "inappropriate" or whatever other adjectives we need. There were names of public streets, on their signs, in a large number of towns and cities, which would never be allowed to be written or spoken, even on today's television. Many of these remained until after Victoria reigned, though live speech was changed radically. So this is actually cultural, though not obviously so to many. Possibly the best re-definition I have, is "metaphor which is profoundly offensive culturally". I have personally witnessed effective delivery of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, by persons in prison who never learned language beyond a dialect which a large number of English-speaking parents try hard to keep away from their children. I don't know if it's "most" anymore, things are changing a lot, but certainly schoolteachers and many others would have been awfully horrified.

It is very interesting to me, because Christ the Lord described some as "sons of Hell", and also used "vipers". He did not use metaphors of violent and evil sexual behavior...that we have recorded, in the New Testament. But we do have the Lord using those over and over again in the Old Testament.

 

[for_his_glory]

I think we all fall short at times with what comes out of our mouth when we allow ourselves to get into the flesh and this should not be so as we are to walk in the Spirit letting go of the things of the flesh. We are all a work in progress as we draw closer to God everyday.

 

[Christ_empowered]

Slander gossip malice etc are also sins of an untamed tongue…

 

[Christ_empowered]

I dunno

Coarse language is not a huge problem for me but self pity which reflects excessive self love is…so is sometimes not filtering well enough which doesn’t reflect well on how I regard others. And yet….

In Christ I’ve made significant progress. I’m still dealing with how I act when taunted and feeling sort of…entitled…to reacting in un biblical ways but again: in Christ progress…