THE WORDS OF MY MOUTH & THE MEDITATIONS OF MY HEART

"You have to think about language...how a disciplined approach to language is a disciplined approach to being human. The apostle James tells us that a man who can control his tongue can control the rest of his body as well. This goes double for the man who is putting what the tongue does into a more permanent setting." - Doug Wilson, in Wordsmithy

Anthony Burgess, from his Expository Sermons, quoted in Taking Hold of God: Reformed and Puritan Perspectives on Prayer, on the responsibility believers have to pray for one another:

1. God has made you part of the body of Christ. If a part of your own body is injured, how does it affect you? You should have the same empathy for the body of Christ as for your own body.
2. God instituted prayer as a means to help others. Instead, we are quick to criticize each other. Rather than finding fault, we should pray for fellow believers. That is our duty.
3. Praying for one another will ease differences, jealousies, and suspicions. It will make the godly of one heart and one mind. If you find yourself thinking how poorly a brother has treated you, pray for that man. It will immediately "quiet those winds and waves."

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I have posted here before about the incredible power of words, power for evil or for good. Apparently, this is something God thinks I need to be reminded of frequently: I encountered both of the above quotes in my reading today!

Sometimes, the words that come out of my mouth frighten me. Why? Because my words reveal what is inside my heart, and more often than I like to admit, what comes out of my mouth is neither pretty nor God honoring.

I may think I am a gracious, loving, forgiving, generous person because, even though Susie hurt me deeply on Friday, I smile at Susie on Sunday morning and say "Nice to see you today!" But, what do I say about Susie when I get home from church?

What do I say about Susie when I am behind closed doors with my husband, or my family, or with an intimate friend? In these private places, do my words testify to a gracious and loving heart, or do my words expose a critical and bitter spirit? Sure, I may put on a nice face in public, but in private, do I go off on Susie, recounting all the ways she has offended me or hurt me?

Ay, yi, yi! The struggle to tame my tongue!

But the problem is not really with my tongue, is it? The problem is with my heart. Like the apostle Paul, I find that "when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?"

And like Paul, I find deliverance from myself and my sin only in Jesus: "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:21-25a)

And thankfully, I am assured that "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set [me] free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death." (Romans 8:1-2)

No condemnation - hallelujah!

But does "no condemnation" mean that I am free from the responsibility of controlling my tongue? No, it does not. In Christ, I am free from condemnation. I am not, however, free from conviction. On the contrary, the Spirit convicts me of the sinful attitudes of my heart from which my sinful words flow. He calls me to repentance, and He strengthens me to walk - to speak - in a new and living way.

Because God is so good, and because He cares deeply about my sanctification, He puts people in my life who gently call me out when my Sunday-morning sweet-talk is exposed as a forgery by my Monday-morning vitriol.

Today, I want to say a big THANK YOU! to Carol, my exercise buddy, who for the past several weeks has endured so much vomit coming out of my mouth, and yet who has somehow managed to gently, sweetly, patiently take me back to Jesus, so that I am truly sorry for the vomit (and for the wickedness from which it flows) and have a renewed desire to employ my words in ways that better reflect the beauty of my Savior. Thank you, Carol, for being a faithful friend, one who will not let me leave Christ out of the conversation.

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"For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil person brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgement people will give an account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned" (Matthew 12:34b-37).

"Let your speech be gracious, always seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person" (Colossians 4:6).

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer" (Psalm 19:40).