Taking Control Your Tongues Series

Sermon - Control Your Tongues to Work God's Way

Scripture: Ephesians 4:29-32 “Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. 30 And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. 32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

INTRODUCTION: You are not your own, you belong to God, you have a new attitude, so Control Your Tongues to Work God's Way. The Bible says, “the tongue can no man tame.” Man has the power to subdue the largest, strongest, and wildest beasts in nature, yet he has not the power to subdue his tongue. All that he can do, is to put on it the bridle (James 1.26) and be slow speak, swift to hear and slowness to wrath.

We are a sound bite, acronym generation. So when it comes to really communicating our feelings we are not very good. It can be tough to communicate effectively. Because communication is a matter of the heart. “Proverbs 18:21, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” In the NLT “The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.

Our key verse is Ephesians 4:29 (KJV), “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth...” Literally, corrupt communication is rank, foul, rotten, worthless. Rotten words come from rotten hearts.

Psalm 19:14, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight.” Our communication as Christians is important because all people need to feel heard, appreciated and respected.

Ephesians 4:15 cautions us “...to speak the truth in love...” Christians who do it well, are those who learn how to discuss their differences, humble yourselves and work through differences of opinion without destroy one another or tearing down one another. Ephesians 4:29 NCV, “...do not say harmful things, but say what people need...” Remembering 1. We all need to Respect. 2. Appreciation 3. Honesty and 4. Acceptance. Recognize that each of us are different because God loves variety. Use humor. Let’s Communicate clearly. Communicate encouragingly. Communicate in several ways finding the right approach.

Why? Because we are not our own, we belong to God. Three things in the text: Choose your words carefully by (1)Establish credibility with an honest gentle tongue (vs. 25). (2) Eliminate the trash and (3) Start encouraging and building up other people.

Do you ever have a problem with your tongue? Sometimes we do. You might have said: -"It wasn't me!" "I didn't do it." "Did you hear about . . .?" "Don't repeat this, but . . ." "I probably shouldn't say this, but . . ." "I'm feeling under the weather today, so I won't be in to work." "I'm going to be working late tonight." "I hate you!" "Shut up!" "Can't you do anything right?" "I can't stand them." "You’re crazy". If we would admit it, we can have all kinds of problems with our tongues, and sometimes we do. But Christians, we can do better. By God's grace we can start new habits in our speech. We can control our tongues to work God's way. Let's investigate His Word and see what God wants us to do. (my wife was singing the other day, “A little bit of Chicken fried, cold beer on a Saturday, a pair of jeans that fit just right”..)

1. Establish an Honest Gentle Tongue. God wants us to have honest tongues. We see this truth in vs. 25, where Paul said: "Therefore, putting away lying, each one speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another."

*Don't lie. It's one of the Ten Commandments, and it's one of the first Commandments we break: "He hit me first!" "She started it!" "I didn't break it." *Gary Huckaby tells about the time he caught his little girl eating jelly out of the jar. Little Nikki was about four years old at the time. And Dad asked her, "Nikki, are you eating out of the jelly jar?" "No sir," she answered. *"Are you sure you are not eating out of the jelly jar?" Church, she had jelly all over her face, on her fingers, and even in her hair! But again she said, "No sir, I'm not eating jelly out of the jar." (1) We learn to lie at a very young age. And it turns out that dishonesty is a very serious problem. It's serious because all relationships are built on trust, and trust is destroyed by lies. Thank God that trust can be rebuilt over time! But no wonder God made being honest one of His Ten Commandments. "Therefore, putting away lying, each one speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another." God wants us to establish credibility with an honest gentle tongue.