clouds10Our words have the power to bless or curse, to influence for good or for bad.

Carefully chosen, considerate, God-annointed, love-soaked words heal, encourage, support. 

our tongue reflects our heart, and exposes whether we are close to God or not. Confess bitterness, frustration, anger, enmity to God to avoid it leaking from your tongue, and poisoning others. Focus on keeping scripture and praise in our thoughts, so they will be the first to come out of our mouths! The following scriptures describe God's actions for us, our call to righteousness, the destructive nature of our tongue/words, and God's words of judgement on those who do not glorify Him. Praise be the name of the Lord!

 

  1. Romans 8: (Why we need to rely on God’s Spirit, and not ourselves) Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God’s action in them find that God’s Spirit is in them—living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn’t pleased at being ignored. 9-11 But if God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him. Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ, won’t know what we’re talking about. But for you who welcome him, in whom he dwells—even though you still experience all the limitations of sin—you yourself experience life on God’s terms. It stands to reason, doesn’t it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he’ll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ’s!

 

  1. God’s action 
    1. Psalm 31: Oh, how abundant is your goodness,  which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you,  in the sight of the children of mankind! 20 In the cover of your presence you hide them from the plots of men; you store them in your shelter from the strife of tongues. 21 Blessed be the Lord,   for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me  when I was in a besieged city. 
    2. Isaiah 30:27 Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar, burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke; his lips are full of fury, and his tongue is like a devouring fire;
    3. Proverbs 16:1 The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.
    4. Isaiah 45:23 By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return: ‘To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.’
  2. Call to righteousness
    1. Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.
    2. Psalm 15: He who walks blamelessly and does what is right  and speaks truth in his heart; 3 who does not slander with his tongue  and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend; 4 in whose eyes a vile person is despised,  but who honors those who fear the Lord; who swears to his own hurt and does not change;
    3. Zephaniah 3: But I will leave in your midst  a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord, 13  those who are left in Israel; they shall do no injustice and speak no lies, nor shall there be found in their mouth  a deceitful tongue. For they shall graze and lie down,     and none shall make them afraid.”
    4. 1 Peter 3: 9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. 10 For “Whoever desires to love life  and see good days,let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; 11 let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it.
    5. Psalm 37: The righteous shall inherit the land     and dwell upon it forever. 30 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,     and his tongue speaks justice. 31 The law of his God is in his heart;     his steps do not slip.
    6. Psalm 35: Let those who delight in my righteousness shout for joy and be glad  and say evermore,“Great is the Lord,  who delights in the welfare of his servant!” 28 Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness  and of your praise all the day long.
    7. Proverbs 12:18 There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.19 Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment.
  3. Destructive nature of tongue
    1. James 1:26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless.
    2. James 3 (Taming the Tongue) 2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.
    3. Psalm 5:9 (referring to the wicked) For there is no truth in their mouth; their inmost self is destruction; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue. 3 For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul,     and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord. 4 In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him;    all his thoughts are, “There is no God.” 5 His ways prosper at all times;     your judgments are on high, out of his sight;     as for all his foes, he puffs at them. 6 He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved;     throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity.” 7 His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression;     under his tongue are mischief and iniquity. 8 He sits in ambush in the villages;     in hiding places he murders the innocent. His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless; 9     he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket; he lurks that he may seize the poor;     he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net. 10 The helpless are crushed, sink down,     and fall by his might. 11 He says in his heart, “God has forgotten,     he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”
  4. God’s judgement on tongues that do not glorify God
    1. Romans 3: All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;     no one does good,     not even one.” 13 “Their throat is an open grave;     they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” 14     “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
    2. Micah 6: Shall I acquit the man with wicked scales     and with a bag of deceitful weights? 12 Your rich men are full of violence;     your inhabitants speak lies,     and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. 13 Therefore I strike you with a grievous blow,     making you desolate because of your sins.
    3. Hosea 7:16 They return, but not upward; they are like a treacherous bow; their princes shall fall by the sword because of the insolence of their tongue. This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.
    4. Jeremiah 23: 30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who steal my words from one another. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the Lord.’ 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the Lord, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the Lord.
    5. Psalm 50:19 “You give your mouth free rein for evil, and your tongue frames deceit.
    6. Psalm 52:2 Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit.
    7. Psalm 52:4 You love all words that devour, O deceitful tongue.

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  1. More Call to Righteousness
    1. Psalm 51:14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
    2. Psalm 66:17 I cried to him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue.
    3. Psalm 68:23 that you may strike your feet in their blood, that the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from the foe.”
    4. Psalm 71:24 And my tongue will talk of your righteous help all the day long, for they have been put to shame and disappointed who sought to do me hurt.
    5. Psalm 34: What man is there who desires life   and loves many days, that he may see good? 13 Keep your tongue from evil  and your lips from speaking deceit. 14 Turn away from evil and do good;     seek peace and pursue it.
    6. Psalm 39: 39 I said, “I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle,     so long as the wicked are in my presence.” 2 I was mute and silent;     I held my peace to no avail, and my distress grew worse. 3   My heart became hot within me. As I mused, the fire burned;     then I spoke with my tongue:
    7. Psalm 45: My heart overflows with a pleasing theme; I address my verses to the king; my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.
    8. Proverbs 31: 25 Strength and dignity are her clothing,     and she laughs at the time to come.26 She opens her mouth with wisdom,    and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
    9. Isaiah 35:6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;
    10. 1 Timothy 3:8 (Qualifications for Deacons) Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain.
    11. Proverbs 28:23 Whoever rebukes a man will afterward find more favor than he who flatters with his tongue.
    12. Psalm 137:6 Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy!
    13. Psalm 139:4 Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
    14. Proverbs 21:23 Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble.
    15. Proverbs 25:15 With patience a ruler may be persuaded, and a soft tongue will break a bone.
    16. Psalm 119:172 My tongue will sing of your word, for all your commandments are right.
  2. More God’s judgement on tongues that do not glorify God
    1. Jeremiah 9:8 Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaks deceitfully; with his mouth each speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart he plans an ambush for him.
    2. Jeremiah 9:5 Everyone deceives his neighbor, and no one speaks the truth; they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they weary themselves committing iniquity.
    3. Jeremiah 9:3 They bend their tongue like a bow; falsehood and not truth has grown strong in the land; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know me, declares the Lord.
    4. Isaiah 59:3 For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies; your tongue mutters wickedness.
    5. Psalm 55:9 Destroy, O Lord, divide their tongues; for I see violence and strife in the city.
    6. Psalm 57:4 My soul is in the midst of lions; I lie down amid fiery beasts— the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.
    7. Psalm 64:3 who whet their tongues like swords, who aim bitter words like arrows,
    8. Psalm 64:8 They are brought to ruin, with their own tongues turned against them; all who see them will wag their heads.
    9. Psalm 73:9 They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth.
    10. Psalm 78:36 But they flattered him with their mouths; they lied to him with their tongues.
    11. Psalm 109:2 For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me, speaking against me with lying tongues.
    12. Psalm 120:2 Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue. 3 What shall be given to you, and what more shall be done to you, you deceitful tongue?
    13. Psalm 126:2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”
    14. Psalm 140:3 They make their tongue sharp as a serpent's, and under their lips is the venom of asps. Selah
    15. Proverbs 6:17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
    16. Proverbs 6:24 to preserve you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.
    17. Proverbs 10:20 The tongue of the righteous is choice silver; the heart of the wicked is of little worth.
    18. Proverbs 10:31 The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut off.
    19. Proverbs 15:2 The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly.
    20. Proverbs 15:4 A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.
    21. Proverbs 17:4 An evildoer listens to wicked lips, and a liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue.
    22. Proverbs 17:20 A man of crooked heart does not discover good, and one with a dishonest tongue falls into calamity.
    23. Proverbs 21:6 The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a snare of death.
    24. Proverbs 25:23 The north wind brings forth rain, and a backbiting tongue, angry looks.
    25. Proverbs 26:28 A lying tongue hates its victims, and a flattering mouth works ruin.

Reflections to Consider

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Publications

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Music

  • Jesus be the centre

    Center is a song that speaks of the essence of our life in Christ, and echoes the words the Christ Read More
  • I Lift My Hands

    A powerful hymn of adoration and praise Arkansas Gospel Mass Choir. This succinctly captures the joy of knowing our savior. Read More
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Audio & Video

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Favorites

  • Transforming this World: The Hope of Glory by NT Wright +

    Wright confronts the perspective that this world doesn’t matter, and that we live only to be in heaven. He shows Read More
  • What is Good in a World that Defies Hope: a talk by NT Wright +

    This is the second part of three talks by NT Wright at Harvard University in November, 2008 on the topic Read More
  • The Stream, the Lake and the River: NT Wright +

      Acts 2.1-21; John 7.37-39; a sermon at the Eucharist on the Feast of Pentecost, 11 May 2008, by the Read More
  • Jesus in the Perfect Storm by NT Wright +

    Zechariah 9.9-17; Luke 19.28-48; A sermon for Palm Sunday, April 17, 2011, In the University Chapel of St Salvator, St Read More
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Hidden Blessings

  • Christ is a Great Savior: a review of the movie Amazing Grace +

    Amazing Grace is a historical drama about William Wilberforce who was elected to British Parliament at the age of 21 Read More
  • Wilberforce, Hollywood's Amazing Grace, Charlotte Allen +

    William Wilberforce's relentless campaign eventually led the British Parliament to ban the slave trade, in 1807, and to pass a Read More
  • Making Beauty out of Ugly Things: Grace by U2 +

    Grace, she takes the blame She covers the shame Removes the stain It could be her name Grace, she carries Read More
  • The True Nature of Grace and Love: a movie review of the Soloist +

    The 2009 movie The Soloist is based on a book by the same name, written by Los Angeles Times columnist Read More
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