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CBN Daily Devotional
ARTICLE TITLE: Taming The Tongue
DATE: 1999
AUTHOR: J. Stephen Lang
CBN.com -- It doesn't require an outright lie to harm another
person. A little insinuation, a "hint," is often enough. Once a bit
of "information" starts on the gossip grapevine, it rarely improves.
The
Bible has much to say about our use -- or abuse -- of the tongue. We write
gossip off as a relatively minor sin, but the Word of God takes a different
view.
Does
any of you want to live a life that is long and good? Then watch your tongue!
Keep your lips from telling lies! Turn away from evil and do good. Work hard at
living in peace with others.
The eyes of the LORD watch over those who do right; his ears are
open to their cries for help.
Psalm
34:12-15
Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring
healing.
Proverbs
12:18
I will not tolerate people who slander their neighbors. I will not
endure conceit and pride.
Psalm
101:5
As surely as a wind from the north brings rain, so a gossiping
tongue causes anger!
Proverbs
25:23
Fire goes out for lack of fuel, and quarrels disappear when gossip
stops. A quarrelsome person starts fights as easily as hot embers light
charcoal or fire lights wood.
Proverbs
26:20
Jesus
had much to say about the tongue. He was aware that people who are outwardly
"religious" could abstain from the "big" sins like adultery
and drunkenness. Yet these same people could do immense harm through their
speech.
"A
tree is identified by its fruit. Make a tree good, and its fruit will be good.
Make a tree bad, and its fruit will be bad. You brood of snakes! How could evil
men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines
what you say. A good person produces good words from a good heart, and an evil
person produces evil words from an evil heart. And I tell you this, that you
must give an account on judgment day of every idle word you speak. The words
you say now reflect your fate then; either you will be justified by them or you
will be condemned."
Matthew
12:33-37
"Evil
words come from an evil heart and defile the person who says them. For from the
heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all other sexual immorality, theft,
lying, and slander. These are what defile you."
Matthew
15:18-20
The
classic passage on controlling the tongue is in James's letter. It ought to be
posted on every Christian's bathroom mirror so that we could read it every
morning before ever opening our mouths.
Those
who control their tongues can also control themselves in every other way. We
can make a large horse turn around and go wherever we want by means of a small
bit in its mouth. And a tiny rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot
wants it to go, even though the winds are strong. So also, the tongue is a
small thing, but what enormous damage it can do. A tiny spark can set a great
forest on fire. And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is full of wickedness
that can ruin your whole life. It can turn the entire course of your life into
a blazing flame of destruction, for it is set on fire by hell itself.
People
can tame all kinds of animals and birds and reptiles and fish, but no one can
tame the tongue. It is an uncontrollable evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes
it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it breaks out into curses against
those who have been made in the image of God. And so blessing and cursing come
pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not
right!
James
3:2-10
How
much gossip and verbal cruelty goes under the name of "constructive
criticism"? In his letter, James makes it plain that criticizing fellow
Christians -- either to their face or behind their back -- is unChristian
behavior.
Don't
speak evil against each other, my dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize
each other and condemn each other, then you are criticizing and condemning
God's law. But you are not a judge who can decide whether the law is right or
wrong. Your job is to obey it. God alone, who made the law, can rightly judge
among us. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you
have to condemn your neighbor?
James
4:11-12
The
Book of God's Promises -- Copyright, 1999 by J. Stephen Lang. All rights
reserved, used with permission.
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