Keep your heart with all vigilance,
for from it flow the springs of life. – Proverbs 4:23I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, – Matt. 12:36
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 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. 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. 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! 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. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being 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 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? – James 3:1-11
A. The Use of our Tongue: Wholesome Speech
B. The Qualities found in Wholesome Speech
C. The Benefits in Wholesome Speech
1. Provides spiritual refreshment to hearers – Prov. 10:11, Prov. 14:27, John 7:37-38
2. Heals spiritual and emotional wounds – Prov. 12:18, Isaiah 50:4
3. Builds a spiritual legacy – Prov. 13:3, James 3:2
4. Silences arguments – Prov. 15:1, Judges 8:1-3
5. Provides healthy spiritual substance to hearers – Prov. 15:4, 2 Cor. 2:14
6. Guards against relational trouble – Prov. 21:23, Eph. 4:31, Psalm 141:3-4
7. Educates in Kindness – Prov. 31:26, Gal. 5:22-23
APPLICATION
1. Am I striving for wholesome speech that produces healing, teaches kindness, dissolves arguments, builds a spiritual legacy, and refreshes my hearers?
2. Is my speech showing more and more a life controlled by the Spirit or my flesh?