The Mouth that Defiles
03/02/07 Filed in: Personal
The power of our
words.
This is another post in what will likely become a series on my own sin and struggles in life, and not just past stuff, but present day. As I said in my previous post, it is important that we are broken and open with each other. Events have transpired in my life recently that require me to be born again, again. And again. And again.
Something I am learning a devastating lesson on right now, is the power of our words. Our words reflect WHO we are and HOW we are. A word of praise spoken at the right moment, can lift a person from the ordinary, making them come alive inside. A word of condemnation can cripple a person's soul and bring them death. It seems I have a habit of doing the latter too often. The scriptures speak clearly in the book of James of such a person as I am. "If a person thinks he is religious but can't control his tongue, he is fooling himself. That person religion is useless." James 1:26. James goes on a lot about the power of the tongue and destructiveness of our speech. In James 3:5-6 he says, "A large forrest can be set on fire by a little flame. The tongue is that kind of flame. It is a world of evil among the parts of our bodies, and it completely contaminates our bodies. The tongue sets our lives on fire, and is itself set on fire from hell." Wow. Those scriptures have new meaning to me today, because I have seen first hand in my own life how right James is. Jesus also talks about this. In Matthew 15, He reveals the source of our words as being our very heart. He goes on to say that our words actually defile us and make us unclean.
From my reading of the scripture, it is not merely a persons choice of words that must change if he speaks evil, for it clear that the cause is a much deeper one. This is an issue of the rottenness of a man's heart. That's a deep place. I think my own heart is one that needs surgery, a surgery only the Spirit of God can perform. And I need your prayers and support.
Now I know some of you reading this might be thinking that I am saying this to stir others and I am saying "I" need this surgery because that's how a preacher identifies with his audience. Actually, I really do mean "my" heart requires surgery. This is my issue, my real, real life, issue.
It is easy to get so caught up in "ministry", that we neglect the very most important things. Like the very condition of our own hearts before God. Now, we may think for a time that our heart is ok before God, that we Love Him, we worship, we even take the Sunday school at our local fellowship, we might even have one of the largest Christian podcast ministries on the planet, but what if at the core of your hear lies something so foul, so depraved, so cold, so dead, that it hides itself from all your searching, waiting for the choicest moment it can find in order to do the most possible damage. A tragedy waiting to happen. That's me folks. That's me! I have seen this first hand. For now that it's revealed, it can no longer hide, either from my own attention, nor from those around me that have also been burnt by my tongues flame.
But maybe you have been in a similar situation before. Maybe you would like to share a bit about your story using the "comments" link below. Perhaps you have been living with these same issues and you know you're causing someone pain and you have no idea what to do. You can post here anonymously, so why not share with us. Brokenness and openness are the way of the Wounded Healer. The comments are moderated, so this is a safe place. Let's confess our sins to each other, as I am to you.
This is another post in what will likely become a series on my own sin and struggles in life, and not just past stuff, but present day. As I said in my previous post, it is important that we are broken and open with each other. Events have transpired in my life recently that require me to be born again, again. And again. And again.
Something I am learning a devastating lesson on right now, is the power of our words. Our words reflect WHO we are and HOW we are. A word of praise spoken at the right moment, can lift a person from the ordinary, making them come alive inside. A word of condemnation can cripple a person's soul and bring them death. It seems I have a habit of doing the latter too often. The scriptures speak clearly in the book of James of such a person as I am. "If a person thinks he is religious but can't control his tongue, he is fooling himself. That person religion is useless." James 1:26. James goes on a lot about the power of the tongue and destructiveness of our speech. In James 3:5-6 he says, "A large forrest can be set on fire by a little flame. The tongue is that kind of flame. It is a world of evil among the parts of our bodies, and it completely contaminates our bodies. The tongue sets our lives on fire, and is itself set on fire from hell." Wow. Those scriptures have new meaning to me today, because I have seen first hand in my own life how right James is. Jesus also talks about this. In Matthew 15, He reveals the source of our words as being our very heart. He goes on to say that our words actually defile us and make us unclean.
From my reading of the scripture, it is not merely a persons choice of words that must change if he speaks evil, for it clear that the cause is a much deeper one. This is an issue of the rottenness of a man's heart. That's a deep place. I think my own heart is one that needs surgery, a surgery only the Spirit of God can perform. And I need your prayers and support.
Now I know some of you reading this might be thinking that I am saying this to stir others and I am saying "I" need this surgery because that's how a preacher identifies with his audience. Actually, I really do mean "my" heart requires surgery. This is my issue, my real, real life, issue.
It is easy to get so caught up in "ministry", that we neglect the very most important things. Like the very condition of our own hearts before God. Now, we may think for a time that our heart is ok before God, that we Love Him, we worship, we even take the Sunday school at our local fellowship, we might even have one of the largest Christian podcast ministries on the planet, but what if at the core of your hear lies something so foul, so depraved, so cold, so dead, that it hides itself from all your searching, waiting for the choicest moment it can find in order to do the most possible damage. A tragedy waiting to happen. That's me folks. That's me! I have seen this first hand. For now that it's revealed, it can no longer hide, either from my own attention, nor from those around me that have also been burnt by my tongues flame.
But maybe you have been in a similar situation before. Maybe you would like to share a bit about your story using the "comments" link below. Perhaps you have been living with these same issues and you know you're causing someone pain and you have no idea what to do. You can post here anonymously, so why not share with us. Brokenness and openness are the way of the Wounded Healer. The comments are moderated, so this is a safe place. Let's confess our sins to each other, as I am to you.