Page Two: “Your Speech: Is It Healthy?” - 8/11/13
Now you know that the Holy Spirit is the one who directed the Apostle Paul when he wrote his epistles to the NT Churches. Can you see what the Holy Spirit was mainly concerned with when it came to the matter of your speech?
Verse six again. Colossians 4:6. “Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.” It’s “how” ye ought to answer every man. First, how you answer a person is important to God. You see, God wants you to learn “how” to use your speech. Why else would He say it to us a hundred different ways? Folks, your Bible is your greatest resource and your greatest teacher when it comes to knowing “how” to live with other people. There are lots of psychology books and lots of story books that have great lessons on the tongue. But your Bible is filled with verse after verse on “how” you ought to use your speech. And it also contains numerous lessons on how “not” to us it. Proverbs 21:23 “Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.” Proverbs 13:3 “He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction.” Proverbs 15:1 “A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.” How should you use your tongue? Keep control over it. When you are confronting wrath in someone else, here’s how to use your tongue “a soft answer,” not “grievous words.” How can I use my tongue? Ephesians 4:29 “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.” That’s how. Psalm 19:14 “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.” |
Psalm 141:3 “Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.”
That’s how. Go to the LORD and ask Him to enable you to use your speech so that it is acceptable in His sight. Leviticus 19:16 “Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: …” That’s how. Did you know that when you use your tongue to damage other people, you really end us damaging yourself even more? Proverbs 13:3 “He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction.” You see, you “shall have destruction.” This line “openeth wide his lips” simply means “you don’t restrain your speech.” It means “you can’t control what you say.” Whenever that’s the case, God says you will have destruction. It’s like. If I don’t control my tongue, if I don’t restrain my speech, I will hurt myself. Here’s Proverbs 18:8 “The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.” Have you ever wondered if when you are a talebearer that your words go down into your belly and wound you? Matthew 15:11 “Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.” You defile yourself when you don’t keep your tongue. James 1:26 “If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.” You even deceive your own heart when you refuse to learn “how” to control your speech. Illustration: Job’s wife’s words So, first, how you answer a person is important to God. Second, speak always with grace. Colossians 4:6. “Let your speech be alway with grace …” |