Snapshots
Biblical Truth
OF
Words From The Heart
BIBLE REFERENCES:
Psalms 139:4 (NIV) “Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.”
Psalms 139:23 (NIV) “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
Proverbs 15:4 (NIV) “The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.”
Proverbs 21:23 (NIV) “He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity.”
Proverbs 28:23 (NIV) “He who rebukes a man will in the end gain more favor than he who has a flattering tongue.”
Luke 6:45 (NIV) “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.”
James 1:16, 17 (NIV) “My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.”
James 1:26 (NIV) “If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight reign on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.”
James 2:7-10 (NIV) “All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.”
APPLICATION:
Your words are a dead give away. If you are filled with angry, negative, hurtful thoughts it won’t be long until everyone around you will know it. We seem to have a hard time keeping our private thoughts to ourselves; the tongue just wants to jump in, take over and blurt it all out.
The Bible talks a lot about words. The Bible says that words come from the heart. So, if our heart is filled with poison, that poison will show up in our speech. James 1:26 tells us that if we think we are religious but can’t control our tongue we have been deceived and our religion is not worth much.
As Christians, we are to be good stewards of our words. It is not right for us to put on a holy, reverent display on Sunday morning at church then sound like the devil the rest of the week. We will be held accountable to God for our loose tongue.
I used to work at a place where my office was located close to the copy machine. I could tell how a person’s week was going just by listening to them speak to that dumb machine. The verbal abuse that machine took, it’s a wonder it ever worked right!
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A PRAYER
“God forgive me for my thoughtless, callused and hateful words. Clean me up on the inside so that my words will be encouraging and helpful to others around me; so that my words reflect the love of Christ.”
SNAPSHOT:
