The tongue, the tongue, the tongue. What a powerful little part of the human body. I truly wish everything about it was good but sadly God knew it would be abused by the heart and mind of mankind. In His Word he warned us. “Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark!” – James 3:5
We speak words of wisdom and encouragement with this tongue and minutes later curse someone with it for turning in front of us in a car. We sing praises to our God and worship him in songs and within minutes we tear someone apart with words we hope no one from church ever hears us say. We can bless an old friend with a kind word and tell them how much we love them but with that same tongue hours later we can get in a heated argument with a co-worker and make them cry.
Trying to harness our tongue is like putting 24 cats on a school bus and making each one stay in their own seat, it is not happening! Why is this so hard for a Christian man of God? Maybe I should stop calling myself that in my head and continue calling myself what Satan calls me, a dirty, rotten, black hearted sinner, that God wants nothing to do with. Condemned by Satan but loved by Jesus. Two competing voices, which one will I listen to?
“But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words, you will be acquitted, and by your words, you will be condemned.” – Matthew 12:36-37 Ok, now, that is not good! I do not look forward to that day. Consequences for my words and actions are more than appropriate. I will have a price to pay for those things I said, maybe not eternity in Hell but there will be something if nothing more than my embarrassment before God. I know better than to act the way I do, so why do I act the way I do?
“The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” – Proverbs 12:18 The second part of that describes my friend Bob. Sunday morning in Sunday School class we were discussing John 15. The word Abide was mentioned by my friend Bob. Bob and I have a lot of fun with one another cutting up and poking fun at each other and it is just a unique relationship. I can share anything with my friend Bob and know it will be kept in confidence and not shared with others. Bob is pushing 80 but looks 60 and gets around like he is 60. Very handsome man, on top of that with a full head of hair and a beard like Kenny Rogers. Bob lives alone so when he gets around others he talks more and that is to be expected because he only has his dog “spot” to talk to at home.
Here is where I messed up, and I mean really messed up. I got up out of my chair and walked over to Bob and whispered in his ear to stop talking and give the class back to the teacher so he could finish the chapter. Bob reacted in a way that told me he was upset. He closed his bible, crossed his arms and did not say another word. I knew right then I had hurt my friend with my tongue. The class knew I had said something to hurt my friend with my tongue. I thought, mistakenly, that Bob would laugh and tell me to go sit down. He did not. Here is the bad part. Bob is smart and knows the Word of God pretty good. He shares from his heart and often it brings tears to his eyes. He was sharing what he felt God was telling him to share with the class and my tongue, connected to Jim, quenched the Holy Spirit. “The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.” – Proverbs 15:4
After class I went up to my friend and wrapped my arms around him and told him I was sorry. He looked at me and said, “you offended me and worse that that, you offended God when you quenched the Holy Spirit.” OUCH! Those arrows pierced my heart, and I knew then I had lost my friend. Just saying the words, “I am sorry” was not enough for Bob. Bob needed to take this to the next step. Bob sat down with me and gently corrected me from his heart to mine, just as God’s Word instructs him to do. Matthew 18:15 “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. Bob did not condemn me or tell me off but very gently explained to me that what I had done was just plain wrong and very offensive. He told me just saying I was sorry was leaving out a key ingredient I was overlooking. He gave me hints but, in my stupidity, I could not figure out what it was. Finally, he says, “Jim, ask me to forgive you.” Oh, now I get it. I then asked Bob to forgive me. Bob replied, “I forgive you, Jim.” I got up to leave and he said, “are you forgetting something here?” I sat back down. Bob said, “Jim, what about God? You offended God when you quenched the Holy Spirit.” “You are right, I did, and I need to tell him I am sorry and seek His forgiveness too.” I then looked up to heaven and told God how sorry I was and asked for Him to forgive me. Bob said, “and He does forgive you!”
We walked away together as brothers in Christ and headed upstairs to church where we had missed worship and about one half of the sermon. The good thing is I learned a lesson from the school of hard knocks. Guard my tongue in all cases. “If you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth.” – Proverbs 6:2
I want my words and actions to be Jesus in the sight of others, my witness. I must do a lot better to hold my tongue. “Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.” – James 1:26
I do not want my walk with Jesus to be worthless. He does not want that either.
Jim Everett
