The tongue, your mouth, the things you say, your speech make for a good gauge of your heart. Think about this: What is the meanest thing someone has said to you?
You remember it, maybe you even remember multiple examples. Maybe someone hates on a new trick you just learned. Maybe they The Bible compares our tongue to three things in the book of James: a horses bit, the rudder of a ship and sparks. The average horse weighs 1000 pounds and can run 30-40 mph, yet we can put a bit the size of an office pen in its mouth and control the horse. The Titanic was 882 feet long (just about 3 football fields) and weighed 92,600,000 pounds. Its rudder was 1/57th of its size or 15 feet long. In 1918 a train rolled through Cloquet, Minnesota and a few sparks shot off the tracks and started a fire. In one day 250,000 acres were burned, 52,000 people were injured or displaced, 38 towns were destroyed, and 453 people died. The tongue is such a small part of the body, yet it has so much power! Proverbs 18:21 says, “Life and death are in the power of the tongue.” Think of verbal abuse, bullying or even Hitler giving the command to exterminate thousands of Jews. James 3:8 shares how the tongue cannot be tamed, that ‘it is a restless evil full of poison.’ Take a look at this video about the tongue and a fresh water spring:
The tongue, your mouth, the things you say, your speech make for a good gauge of your heart. The mind and the heart are the source of what you speak. If your mind is in the gutter, you won’t be speaking like Jesus. If your heart is filled with hate, your words will cut others to pieces. What we say shows our heart. Apples and starfruit don’t grow on the same tree. Salt water and fresh water don’t come out of the same spring. James 1:26 says, “If you think you are religious and yet do not control your tongue, your religion is worthless.” Ephesians 4:29 says, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, but only what is helpful for building others up.” The truth is we can’t do that unless our heart is clean and only Jesus can clean your heart. So take an oral exam, repent, get in the presence of Jesus and ask the Holy Spirit to empower you to clean up your tongue. Then you can be a fresh water spring that speaks life!
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