The Book Of James Pt. 14 Let Our Words Be Pleasing To God.

 

Slow to speak our mind.

James 1:19-20  Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: 20)  For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

We previously looked at what it means to be swift to hear God speak to us. 

Our failure to keep any of the three imperatives, will lead to the wrath of man coming out in our thoughts, words and actions. 

We would be better served if we were as swift to hear God speak, as we are to speak our own mind to someone else. 

We are well aware that the internet and social media has created an avalanche of foolish words. Everyone can easily post comments, tweets, videos, or podcasts about anything. 

500 million tweets are sent on Twitter each day.  

500 million users post something on Instagram each day.   

People become self appointed experts who think they must be heard at all costs. They write about things whether they are knowledgeable or not. 

Social media could be used to promote civil discourse, mutual understanding, respect for others and sharing of ideas. 

Instead, social media is mostly used to promote personal agendas, hate speech, cyber bullying or radical ideology. 

This is why so much clamorous, divisive and hateful language fills our lives. Foolish, radical or evil words pour out like a dark cloud of pollution, poisoning peoples minds. 

The term "troll" refers to someone who maliciously attacks, harasses or cyber bullies others. 

Social media is the preferred venue for bullying and cyber bullying has ruined many innocent victims lives.. 

Therefore, a significant number of people in our culture, simply do not know how to refrain from commenting. 

God says restrain your lips!

Proverbs  10:19  In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise. 

The phrase "multitude of words" refers to unchecked torrents of fools offering valueless opinions, or spreading hate speech. A multitude of words are relentlessly disseminated on the internet, TV and social media. 

There is plenty of sin, lies, rumor mongering, or untrue gossip contained in a ceaseless and senseless outpouring of Godless speech. 

God used King Solomon to warn us about about getting involved with foolish speech, because it can lead to sin. 

Jewish scribes taught that our ears were open, but our mouths were walled in behind the lips and teeth. Teeth are a fence to keep our tongue in it's place, and lips are a door to keep our mouths shut. 

In this manner, they taught the people of God to be careful what they say and how they say it.  

God says do not sin with your tongue.

Psalm 39:1 I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me. 

Instead, God wants us to refrain our lips. King David made this very point in Psalm 39. 

He urges us to take heed to what we say. Why? Because we can sin with our tongues, and words spoken cannot be taken back. 

The damage our words may do cannot be undone, no matter how sincere someone may apologize. 

Our mouth needs a bridle & bit to turn it away from ungoverned speech. 

A bridle and bit is used to turn a horse in the direction it's rider needs it to go. In like manner, our speech must be governed by God. 

In our culture, what applies to our tongue and mouth also must apply to words we write in a post. 

God is always aiming at changing the way we think, so that all of our thoughts, words and actions will honor Him. A renewed mind is one that conforms to scripture (Romans 12:1-2).

If our mind is renewed by the scriptures, then what we think, say and do, will be quite different than what people say or do in the culture.

Take care to think before we speak or post.

Proverbs 17:27  He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit. 

A wise man from God's perspective, is one who spares his words. A wise man does not feel a need to weigh in on everything that is going on in the world.  

He does not have a compulsion to blurt out his opinion, as if his opinion was vitally needed by society. 

"Knowledge" in this text, is the knowledge of God. Knowing God through faith in Christ, changes our whole worldview. 

Knowledge of God as Creator, Sustainer and Savior, must shape what we think about and value the most.

The word "spareth" means to restrain or keep something in check or to hold something back. We must hold our thoughts in check, because what we think about is what we will talk about and act upon. 

Opinions are a dime a dozen. Everyone has one and most are formed without having all the facts. Just because we have thoughts about something, does not mean we should speak or post it. 

A man or woman of an excellent spirit will be very careful in what he or she says, whether by spoken or typed words. 

Diligently guard our mouth and tongue.

Proverbs 21:23  Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.

Solomon tells us we must guard our mouth so that we do not speak when it is better to be quiet.  We must learn to keep or guard our tongue so that the words we say are right in the sight of God and fitting for the situation. 

It used to be said that "speech is like silver but silence is like gold," to teach children the importance of guarding their tongues. 

What kind of trouble will we avoid by keeping or guarding our mouth? 

Guarding our mouth means we will not have remorse for saying something hurtful to another person. 

It means we will not suffer distress of conscience from offending our family, friends or neighbors. 

It means that we will not provoke the anger of God, and incur His judgment for our words.

Psalm 34:13-14  Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. 14)  Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. 

King David tells us to keep or hold back our tongue from speaking evil of anything or anyone. Guile is used to deceive or defraud someone. Don't do this, is what David wants us to know. 

Instead, flee from evil and do the good works that God plans for us to do. Seek to share the gospel of Christ, and help people find peace with God. 

Psalm 52:2  Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.

The Psalmist again encourages us to be guarding our tongue. Gossip and lies can destroy people. Lying words spoken are like sharp razors that can cut a person to shreds. Lying words injure a person's soul and shred his or her integrity. 

Do not be deceived. God will hold us to account if we fail to govern our speech. 

Thoughts to Ponder...

What a time we live in! There are so many venues where we can fall into sin if we do not guard our mouths and keep our tongues in check. 

Yet, God has given us His word to guide our speech. 

Psalm 141:3  Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips. 

Let us begin each day, praying for Jehovah to set a watch, place a guard before our mouths, and that He would guard the door of our lips. 

In other words, let us pray for the LORD to place a bit and bridle of His Holy Spirit into our mouths, so that we honor Him with our words.

Ephesians 4:29  Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

Paul tells us we must avoid saying that which is untrue, or corrupt. Rather, we should dedicate our words to saying things that edify believers and point people to Jesus Christ 

Psalm 19:14  Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

The prayer of the Psalmist can be our prayer too. Let us pray that the words we say are acceptable to God. Let us pray that our meditation, what we think about, is also pleasing to God. Let us ask God for strength to keep our tongues in check.

Bob