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Just A Thought: A Powerful Weapon

May 21, 2017 0 comments

Posted in: Just a Thought

So… as I sat down to write this devotional - I began to think of every saying, every cliché, every proverb, every one-liner - I could think of concerning the holding or biting of the tongue. You remember all of the things your mother said to you, right? I discovered that it all boiled down to maintaining integrity and having good character, and the key ingredient was just self-control.
                          Loose lips sink ships.
                          A fool empties his head every time he opens his mouth.
                          A closed mouth catches no flies.
                          Talk is cheap, but you can’t buy it back.
                          God gave you two ears but only one mouth.


God’s Word has some great one-liners and proverbs as well.
"Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble." -  Proverbs 21:23
"Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up,
as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear." -  Ephesians 4:29
"A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger."  - Proverbs 15:1
"Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits."                                                                                                                                                   - Proverbs 18:21

Wow - the power of either life or death is in our speech. Something my parents taught me when I was young was from Luke 6:45, “for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”  Any time I feel convicted about my speech, I can immediately look back to the state of my heart. Every time, it never fails - my speech is symptomatic of the state of my heart.
We who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. These things ought not to be this way. Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water?" There is nothing profound about this. It is quite simple - if our speech does not reflect the Holy Spirit in us or Christ’s love pouring out of us, we need a heart-check. We should take inventory, find the brokenness or the sin or the hurting things, and lay them on the altar. When we do, sin and darkness no longer hold reign over our attitudes and mindsets. Beyond that?

Philippians 4:8 and 9:  "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you."


The result is to only think about the good. Our hearts will be guarded, as stated right before this in verse 7: “the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  And this is the abundance I want my heart to speak from.

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