Taming Your Tongue

IOI CHRISTIAN MORNING MEAL

TOPIC :Taming Your Tongue

Psalm 10:7
The tongue reveals our wickedness. “His mouth is full of curses and deceit and oppression; under his tongue is mischief and wickedness.”

There are at least 5 different descriptive words and phrases about the corruption of the tongue here:

1) “full of curses”: this doesn’t just mean “swear words” but speaking evil for/about others. Gossip and slander might be included here.

2) “deceit”: this means lying, or half-truths. Keil & Delitzsch describe it as “deceit and craft of any kind.” This could mean sharing deceitful things about ourselves — making ourselves look better than we really are; or spreading lies, or half-truths, or slanted information about other people.

3) “oppression”: This is using your words to ‘beat people down’. You may not harm another person physically, buy you can do just as bad or worse with your words. The old adage: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” is wrong! You can harm and abuse others with your words.

4) “mischief”: the Hebrew word here literally means “trouble.” Sometimes we enjoy causing trouble for other people with our words; that is what this word refers to. I’ve seen people take a sinister kind of “delight” in getting other people in trouble. Some of us know that we have done that very thing, too.

5) “wickedness”. This word is used in Proverbs 19:28, where it says “the mouth of the wicked spreads iniquity.” So these “wicked” words are words, according to Proverbs, which may be “spread” — sounds like gossip, of which virtually everyone here must admit that we have been guilty.

All of these are ways in which we can sin with our words, and they are very common. In fact, sinning with what we say is one of the most common sins — even among Christians.

James 3 says:
“For we all stumble in many ways; if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.” But unfortunately, he says, none of us DO that. He goes on to say “but no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse man, who was made in the image of God.”

LET US PRAY
DEAR LORD JESUS, HELP US TO KEEP AND WATCH YOURSELF FROM SINNING WITH OUR TONGUE IN JESUS NAME

Share this meal
Good morning friends