THE TONGUE RUINS HARMONIOUS RELATIONSHIPS

Harmony does not abound in the Church as it should. Living in harmony does not mean we will agree on everything; there will be many opinions just as there are many notes in a harmonious chord of music. But we agree on our purpose in life - to work together for God! Our outward expression of unity should reveal our inward unity of purpose. James 1:26 (Life Application Bible): "Anyone who says he is a Christian but doesn't control his sharp tongue is just fooling himself, and his religion isn't worth much." "As iemand onder julle meen dat hy godsdienstig is en sy tong nie in toom hou nie, maar sy hart mislei, die godsdiens van hierdie man is tevergeefs" (Ou Vertaling). James 3:1-12 (Life Application Bible): "Dear brothers, don't be too eager to tell others their faults, for we all make many mistakes; and when we teachers of religion, who should know better, do wrong, our punishment will be greater than it would be for others. If anyone can control his tongue, it proves that he has perfect control over himself in every other way. We can make a large horse turn around and go wherever we want by means of a small bit in his mouth. And a tiny rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot wants it to go, even though the winds are strong. So also the tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do. A great forest can be set on fire by one tiny spark. And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is full of wickedness, and poisons every part of the body. And the tongue is set on fire by hell itself, and can turn our whole lives into a blazing flame of destruction and disaster. Men have trained, or can train, every kind of animal or bird that lives and every kind of reptile and fish, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is always ready to pour out its deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our heavenly Father, and sometimes it breaks out into curses against men who are made like God. And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Dear brothers, surely this is not right! Does a spring of water bubble out first with fresh water and then with bitter water? Can you pick olives from a fig tree, or figs from a grape vine? No, and you can't draw fresh water from a salty pool." Teaching was a highly valued and respected profession in Jewish culture. Many Jews who embraced Christianity wanted to become teachers. James warned that although it is good to aspire to teach, the teachers' responsibility is great because their words affect others' spiritual lives. If you are in a teaching or leadership role, how is your example affecting those you lead? What you say and what you don't say are both important. Proper speech is not only saying the right words at the right time, but controlling your desire to say what you shouldn't. Examples of wrongly using the tongue include gossiping, putting others down, bragging, manipula-ting, false teaching, exaggerating, complaining, flattering, and lying. Before you speak, ask, "Is it true, is it necessary, and is it kind?" TWELVE USES OF THE TONGUE CONDEMNED: Gossiping (Dt. 22:13-19), tale-bearing (Lev. 19:16; Prov. 1:13), false witnessing (Ex. 20:16; 23:7), whisperings (Rom. 1:29), slandering (1 Tim. 3:11), false accusations (Tit. 2:3), vain talking (Tit. 1:10), defaming (Jer. 20:10), tattling (1 Tim. 5:13), lying (Prov. 6:17; Rev. 21:8; 22:15), deceiving (Rev. 12:9), and backbiting (Ps. 15:3; Rom. 1:30). James compares the damage the tongue can do to a raging fire - the tongue's wickedness has its source in hell itself! The uncon-trolled tongue can do terrible damage. Satan uses the tongue to divide people and turn them against one another. Idle words are damaging because they spread destruction quickly, and no one can stop the results once they are spoken. When our speech is motivated by Satan, it is full of jealousy, selfishness, earthly concerns and desires, unspiritual thoughts and ideas, disorder, and evil. When our speech is motivated by God and His wisdom, it is full of mercy, love for others, peace, courtesy, yielding to others, sincerity, straightforwardness, quiet gentleness, and goodness. A few words spoken in anger/ malice can destroy a relationship that took years to build. Before you speak, remember that words are like fire - you can neither control nor reverse the damage they can do! Jesus also suffered the curse of the tongues of the Pharisees and false witnesses. Matthew 12:34-37 (Life Appli-cation Bible): "You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For a man's heart determines his speech. A good man's speech reveals the rich treasures within him. An evil-hearted man is filled with venom, and his speech reveals it. And I tell you this, that you must give account on Judgment Day for every idle word you speak. Your words now reflect your fate then: either you will be justified by them or you will be condemned." Jesus reminds us that what we say reveals what is in our hearts. What kind of words come from our mouths? That is an indication of what our hearts are really like. You can't solve a heart problem, however, just by cleaning up your speech. You must allow the Holy Spirit to fill you with new attitudes and motives; then your speech will be cleansed at its source. But remember that we are not fighting the tongue's fire in our own strength. The Holy Spirit will give us increasing power to monitor and control what we say. As Christians we are not perfect, but we should never stop growing. As the Holy Spirit purifies our hearts, He also gives us self-control so that we will speak words that please God. "But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives He will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control" (Galatians 5:22,23). Psalm 19:14 (Life Application Bible): "May my spoken words and unspoken thoughts be pleasing even to you, O Lord my Rock and my Redeemer." David recognized that not only his words and actions, but even his thoughts, should be pleasing to God. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to search our hearts, and control our tongues so that we may utter only words pleasing to God and uplifting to others. (Compiled by Huegene Venter)