Taming the Tongue: The Power of Our Words

1. "The Bible says the very same thing. You want to get to know someone, listen to what they say. People will tell you who they are when you interact with them. The words that they speak ultimately come from the heart. Jesus cuts to the heart of the matter. He says, for out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, stored up in him. The evil man brings evil things. The evil man brings good things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that men will have to give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words, you will be acquitted, and by your words, you will be condemned, Matthew 12, 34 through 37. Listen, for all of us, our speech reflects our hearts." [00:04:29] (47 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2. "The tongue is small but powerful. It may be the most powerful organ in your body. It has the greatest influence, good or bad. It's one of the senses you can't see. You can see my nose on my face, good or bad. You can see my eyes. You see my ears. You see my hands. My tongue is hidden from you. But it reveals the most about my heart than any other of the senses. The tongue is small but powerful. Number two, James says, you can't tame it. It is a wild horse. You can work it every day. You and I will never, ever be able to tame that thing. The tongue is humanly unattamable." [00:08:38] (44 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3. "Evil disposition, a tongue spreads it. Let me give you an extreme case. Hitler wrote Mein Kemp, my story, years before he was elected into office. And he used that to spread his thoughts. Romans 1 says that's not just one case. It's all of us in this room. We exchange the truth of God for a lie. We worship creation rather than the creator. All immorality follows us. When Satan comes to God, God says, look at my servant. Satan was roaming the entire earth looking for someone. Roaming the world, seeking someone to deceive. Third, the mouth. Reveals more about us than we care to admit." [00:09:40] (48 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4. "The mouth reveals more about us than we care to admit. And when God changes a heart, the mouth will follow. It begins, it begins with a doctor's visit. For some of us, that's here today. You're not here by accident today. We ask God, as David says in Psalm 51, O Lord, open my lips. My mouth will declare my praise. Anytime we insult and denigrate someone else, we run down what God has made. Weeks to come, we'll look more at this. But he gives us a caution and a warning that we would not just sing praise songs on Sunday morning and walk out on Monday or even Sunday afternoon and curse others." [00:10:27] (48 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5. "There's a spark that once spoken, it immediately is out of control. And it causes damage and it causes people to evacuate your presence. They run. Damage is done. Permanent damage. Permanent damage. You can't get that back when you speak. So I want to talk to you about a few points on anger today. It's a dangerous power. It's the dynamite of the soul. All of us in the room, we've known somebody who have a quick temper. A person who has a quick temper destroys life. Proverbs talks about that. I read about anger destroying life. Anger is worse on your heart. Did you know this? Than anxiety, than worry, than extreme physical exercise." [00:12:06] (55 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6. "The Bible never says don't get angry. The Bible says, be angry. Be angry and don't sin. So the goal is not to have no anger. I think sometimes as followers of Jesus, we think, well, we just have to be peaceful people all the time and live in perfect harmony with the world. Jesus didn't do that. Jesus in John 2, he's angry, flipping tables, right? In Mark, he's angry at the Pharisees and the scribes. There's anger there. He's angry at the tomb of Lazarus. He's angry. So we're never told don't get angry. So the goal isn't don't be angry." [00:15:48] (42 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7. "God says, Moses, tell the people, the God who is slow to anger, that's who gave you these commandments. May you and I be people who are slow to anger. May it take a lot for us to be angry. And may we be angry over the right things. There is a basic goodness in anger. The proverb I read, he who is slow to anger is better than the mighty. The ideal is not to be angry. Listen, he that is angry without cause, that's sin. If I did not give myself enough margin when I went to Chick -fil -A before my next meeting, there's a lot of life lessons at Chick -fil -A in my world." [00:16:40] (54 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


8. "When we let anger overrun us, we're not making logical, reasonable decisions. We're letting emotions drive the bus on that. Sometimes the defense of this is, well, I'm a person who tells it like it is. I say what needs to be said. I rock the boat. And I'm proud of it. Those aren't verses in the Bible. Sometimes, well, I just need to vent. Venting is not biblical. Venting is not a biblical concept. There's safe people to have conversations with. And that's necessary and needed. Talk things out in an appropriate way. But venting is a destructive power. There's a dangerous power when it comes, when it comes to anger." [00:13:31] (54 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


9. "So, so grateful it wasn't too far down the road. There weren't deep cuts under the skin, but when things don't go how we think they should go in our life, we get angry, right? We respond and we lash out and we blow up and we slam doors. We insult people. We call each other names. When our anger should never be directed at a person. Boulder Mountain, may our anger be directed in the right place. There are a lot of things in this world that we should be angry about. It's okay to be angry at things. Let's not be angry at people. God is slow to anger. Jesus is not angry with you." [00:26:08] (47 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


10. "Jesus loves you so much that he's angry at the things that cause harm to you and me. And those things he wants to remove from your life. And he loves you so much. He's like, I don't want you to go there. I don't want you to listen to that. I don't want you to do that thing. I want you to end that relationship. Why? Because not because I'm angry with you, because I love you and I don't want more scars upon you. And so I'm angry at the sin. I'm angry at the addiction." [00:26:35] (32 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)