Ephesians 4:15 instructs Christians to speak the truth in love which will allow us to grow up in all aspects into Jesus Christ. Throughout both the Old Testament and New, the Bible is full of Spirit-inspired instructions on how to live our lives, especially when it comes to what we speak.
What flows from our mouth can either cause death or life (Proverbs 18:21) and James calls the tongue “a fire, the very world of iniquity.” (see James 3:6)
All of us have difficulties with “taming our tongue,” even the most faithful followers of Christ – we live in a sinful world, after all, but that is no excuse. As Christians, we must hold ourselves to Jesus’ standard of perfection, constantly striving to “be perfect as [our] Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).
Usually, when we talk about “speaking the Truth in love” it means something along the lines of telling people the Gospel Truth with love so as not to offend them and in everything being honest. That’s certainly accurate. But, what if we take it a little further? Let’s assume are speaking the Truth, but how do we make sure we are speaking in love?
No man can tame the tongue (James 3:8) but, certainly the Holy Spirit can! We must give complete control to the Lord of our entire being, including submitting our tongue to the full authority of the Holy Spirit.
“Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:29).
This verse tells us to pay attention to the need of the moment and speak only what will edify. By allowing the Holy Spirit to fill us, we will be given greater discernment to know what to speak and when and to whom, and also the glorious gift of being able to speak intimately with God in the heavenly language He gives us (Gk: glossolalia).
When we speak in tongues, our tongue is not able to speak evil, but is instead in pure communication with our Father in heaven, something beautiful and truly redemptive. How much time daily are you engaging in gossip and idle talk? Jesus said, “I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment” (Matthew 12:36). How much time instead are you devoting to using the gift of language, the gift of the ability to speak at all, to bless the Lord your Maker? To bless and not curse, to pray, to lift up His Holy Name, to speak Love over your family, to teach your children the promises of our Faithful Lord?
“By your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:37). We all will have to give an account for our words. Christians, take this seriously. Too many Christians in America are taking the Word of God far too lightly and think that just because we said a short prayer to be saved that that’s it, and we’re set for eternity and it doesn’t matter if we sin from then on because “we’re washed by the blood”. If we stick to the promises we made in that prayer, then of course – but the problem is, we keep sinning and we keep gossiping. The Christian life is a journey, and it is one in which we need to walk in the kind of love that the Lord requires of us.
What does the Lord require of you? “To do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). In order to live this kind of life, you need to be equipped. Even if you have already repented and given your heart to the Lord in all sincerity, you will find yourself quickly needing more – you need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. One pastor challenged his congregation to “fast from angry words” or whatever other types of words that were causing discord in their relationships with family and friends. The fast was to last for 30 days. Could you do that? Could you go 3 days without letting an evil word slip from your mouth?
Challenge yourself today, and let us know if you’re up to the challenge!! We’d love to hear from you and hear your testimony.
Remember, the important thing is that you try your best to live God’s word – we all fall short (Romans 3:23) of His glory, but poco a poco (little by little) we can use our tongue to His glory rather than our own.
Make it your goal to not grieve the Holy Spirit of our God.
1 Comment(s)
Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI
Leave a comment
[...] ****If you want to read more on a similar subject, check out this post at our regular church website on … **** Remember, just because you are speaking Truth, doesn’t mean you’re being loving about it. Love your husband, read the article, pray, and do something nice for the man. [...]