“The tongue has the power of life and death, ...”
(Proverbs 18: 21)
*Words are powerful. Encouraging words have the power to give hope and joy, and discouraging words spark dismay and depression. In today’s text Jesus was speaking to a group of Pharisees who had just accused Him of being demon-possessed. Jesus calls them a brood of vipers and asks them, “How can you who are evil say anything good?” Just as vipers have a poison in their mouths, the Pharisees had evil words against the Savior. Jesus then warns the Pharisees of the coming judgment, at which they will be held accountable for their words. There is no better judge of a person’s heart than the words he allows to come out of his mouth. Just as good trees produce good fruits and bad trees produce bad fruits, so does the mouth reveal the condition of our heart. It is not just evil words for which we must give account. Jesus says every “careless” word can also be used as a judgment against the speaker. The Greek phrase for this is “rema argos” meaning “careless or inactive or unprofitable words.” Even the slightest sin, the smallest deviation from God’s perfection will condemn a person in God’s eyes. The Pharisees’ sin was great - they had blasphemed the Lord of glory with their words. We may not blaspheme but even seemingly insignificant words, sometimes excused as “slips of the tongue” are considered sinful if they do not bring glory to the Lord. Ephesians 4: 29 sets the standard for us: “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” James 3: 8 says how hard it is to control the tongue. “No man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
Dear friends, let us learn to yield our body’s members including our tongues, to the control of the Holy Spirit. As David prayed in Psalm 141: 3, let us pray to God everyday to set a guard over our mouth and to keep watch over the door of our lips so that we will not sin against Him.
*PRAYER* : Heavenly Father, my words express what is in my heart. So let me fill my heart with good things - let Your Word richly dwell in my heart. Let me take out from the good treasure that is inside and give it to others. Let me not be judged for my careless words on the Judgment Day. Amen.
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