Thursday, March 3, 2016

MEASURE YOUR WORDS THEY EXPOSE YOUR HEART!














A PRAISING TONGUE IS THE WORK OF GOD! 

Psalm 34:11-14

11 Come, O children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 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.


Having invited the readers to praise God, David now invites those who love and fear God to behave in a way that please Him. The Psalmist, after having told us to use our tongues to praise God, also reminds us not to use them in an evil way.

What do our words expose about our faith?

James 3:9-12
With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grape vine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water. 

James is clearly stating that it is wrong and unnatural for a believer, transformed by the Holy Spirit, to use his mouth both to bless God and to speak against people He has created in His image. In essence, every time we complain or curse others, we are rebelling against the sovereignty of God. As God said through James, “these things ought not to be so!”

What do our words expose about our hearts?

We tend to forget that the Bible states clearly that our words expose what is in our hearts.

Luke 6:45
The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. 

Our words should be always edifying.

Ephesians 4:29-32
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. 

Our hearts should be driven by grace.

Our words will please God as long as wrong attitudes are put aside. Those who have received grace should be givers of grace.

I love these words by Peter:

1 Peter 1:22
Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 

Real love is the result of God’s transforming work in our hearts. God’s word must produce obedience, and submissive obedience will produce love that, in turn, will produce godly attitudes and a loving hearts that promote godly speech.

David goes on to tell the readers that they must pursue peace: that is, to earnestly desire it and to turn from what is ungodly to that which pleases God.

Don’t overlook what you say!

Sometimes we tend to dismiss the words that come out of our mouths. We justify them as a response to the poor behavior of others; we allow them, describing them as “just venting”. We minimize the severity of our sin.

Dear friends, as I stop to meditate on this psalm, I cannot help but review my own spoken words. Words are heard by others and invite them either to worship God, or to neglect the sovereignty of God.

I must stop and review my days, then repent and ask God to help me to change. I must prepare for my day in prayer. Since you live in the world, you will have many opportunities to expose what is in your heart. We’d better not be careless!

A little reminder… it starts at home! God desires to work on our hearts. A praising tongue is the work of God!  The Lord is good, and He deserves our praise!


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