Do Not Grieve The Holy Spirit Part 3 Series

This is the image that James had in mind when he wrote James 3:8. Using this term he is letting us know that the tongue is hard to subdue, tame and domesticate as is a ferocious wild beast. James says the tongue is “an unruly evil…” The word “unruly” in the Greek describes something that is restless such as a nervous, poisonous snake that is poised and is ready to strike. Because the tongue is so unstable and restless, its behavior is almost impossible to predict. It is like a snake that may appear to be docile but is actually just waiting for a victim to come along in which to inject its venom. Finally when James says it is “full of deadly poison” it carries the meaning that the tongue is death bearing, again just like a poisonous snake. Proverbs 18:21 says that “Death and life is in the power of the tongue and they that love it will eat its fruit.” When you read this verse for what it is, it is telling us that we can kill with our tongue. We have the ability to kill emotionally, spiritually and physically with our mouth. Think about the verbal abuse that takes place in the home that kills a person emotionally. Think about the spiritual death that takes place in the Church when we constantly tell someone that God cannot use them. Think about the number of people who have died because someone spoke a lie that got them convicted of a crime. This scripture is fulfilled everyday, even in our lives. Just as the snakes slithers off while its victim lay dying, so do we. After we have spoken our words, we walk off forgetting about the situations while the person we hurt carries the venomous words with them for days, months and sometimes years.

Whenever we open our mouth there is an opportunity for us to hurt someone else unless we learn to control our tongues. I have had times when I have been joking with someone and said something to them teasing them. When it came out of my mouth, what I said and what I meant was not what the person heard and their feelings were hurt. I have been guilty of just “speaking my mind” in the name of speaking the truth and the results were the total opposite of what I was seeking. All of us are guilty of saying things that have hurt others even when we did not mean to. We have also been guilty of saying things being fully aware of the impact. Regardless of which case applies to you, when we do this the Holy Spirit is grieved. God is love and the only way to tame our tongue is to allow God’s love to come through it. This may sound impossible, but let me explain what I mean.

1 John talks about God being love. If we are in God, we are wrapped in love. That love is able to transcend everything, even when we speak. Although we cannot tame our own tongues, through the power of the Holy Spirit which is love, we can get it under control. We have to make the decision to yield. We have to make the decision to stop and yield to the Holy Spirit when we are getting ready to open our mouth.

We do this a lot on our jobs when we yield. Have you ever been in a meeting and you were getting ready to express a point but you practiced it in your head before you made your statement to make sure it came out right. This is the caution, tempered with love, we should use in our everyday conversations. We should think, evaluate the impact and add love to the statement before we open our mouth. Imagine the fights that would not be started. Imagine the feelings that would not be hurt. Imagine the ability to know that whenever you open your mouth you will be a blessing to someone because of the words you use and the love that just come through in every conversation. There are many conversations that I have been in that I would love to take back, but I cannot. But moving forward, even when I am joking with those closest to me, I will temper my words with love. When I am frustrated or angry, I will temper my words with love. Knowing that death and life is in the power of my tongue, I will choose to speak life. I understand that the choice is mind.