• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • Blog
    • Devotions
    • Missions
    • Verse of the Week
    • Daily Bible Readings
  • Sermons
  • 40 Things
  • Mailing List
  • About
    • Contact
philressler.com

philressler.com

Believing God is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine

Destructive Speech

April 2, 2014 By Phil Ressler 4 Comments

Get the Book Join the Mailing List

Week 4 Wednesday

Scripture Verses

  • James 3:1–12
  • Matthew 15:1–11
  • Psalm 8:1–9

Questions to Consider

  • When have you said something you would rather not have spoken?
  • What are the consequences of speaking profanity and other words of impurity?
  • How do we tame the tongue?
  • How does Jesus help us speak words that are pure and holy?

Plan of Action

  • Compliment someone today. Make sure it is sincere.
  • Sing a song of praise. Read a psalm of praise. Psalm 8 is a good place to start.
  • Eliminate any words from your vocabulary that even hint towards taking the name of God in vain.

Reflection

Do you remember the Smurfs? The Smurfs had a very limited vocabulary. They would smurf every word. They would smurf this and smurf that. Everything was smuf-tastic. Humans have done much the same thing as the Smurfs, but instead of using the word “smurf,” humans use words of profanity.

The Wolf of Wall Street set a record for profanity for a US feature film. This movie used a certain profane word 506 times in a span of 180 minutes. The scary thing is that this is not all that surprising when we consider the landscape. Profanity has become a common form of speech. As a father of young children I am reluctant to take my children to professional sporting events. Even on trips to the local supermarket, you are not sure what you might hear.

But before we are quick to point the finger at others around us, we must be sure to tame our own tongue. In the Ten Commandments we are told not to take the name of the Lord our God in vain. Yet, I often hear Christians say, “Oh my God” in very flippant ways. We need to be careful about the context in which we call on God and to hold his name in high regard.

We strive to use God’s name in a context of worship. In the Old Testament God was named Yahweh. God’s people so revered the name that it was a name that went unspoken. Instead of using the name Yahweh, they would call him Adonai. Adonai is translated “the Lord.” That is why in many Bible translations you will often see “the Lord” written with small capital letters like this: THE LORD. We would do well to hold God’s name in a similar regard.

The Bible says:

With it (the tongue) we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. James 3:1 (ESV)

Today we strive to tame our tongues. We seek to use our words to be a blessing rather than a curse. This is about more than just purity of speech. This involves the words we speak about others and towards others. These destructive patterns of speech include:

  • Gossip – is described in Proverbs 18:8 as delicious morsels that go down in the inner part of the body.
  • Innuendo – A close cousin of gossip; to infer something about someone without actually saying it.
  • Flattery – This is saying to a person’s face what you would never say behind their back.
  • Criticism – A favorite among Christians, to make us feel good about ourselves.
  • Diminishment – A close cousin to criticism, this is when we continually trivialize, minimize, and find fault in another person, effectively demoralizing them.

Words have immense power, more than we realize. James 3:4 likens the tongue to the rudder of a ship, which although small, has the power to turn the ship in any direction. In the previous verse (James 3:4), the tongue is likened to a bit in the mouth of a horse. With the bit in the mouth of the horse, even a 100 pound human can control a 600 pound animal. The point is that our words have power.

As we ponder the sacrifice of Jesus this Lenten season, we realize his name means everything. May our lips speak words which exalt him and build up others.

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. Psalm 51:15 (ESV)

Next: Busyness

Get the Book Join the Mailing List

Join my mailing list!

Sign up for updates and devotional posts.

I don’t spam! Read my privacy policy for more info.

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Share this:

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Related

Filed Under: 40 Things for Lent, Blog Tagged With: 40 Things for Lent, Gossip, Profanity, Purity, Speech

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Joyce Gorman says

    April 2, 2014 at 5:26 pm

    I live in McKinney, TX and a friend has been forwarding your Lenten devotionals to me and I have thoroughly enjoyed reading them and having them as another guidepost during this very special time. Thank you for the
    passion you so eloquently express each day.

    Reply
  2. Greg Ricca says

    April 3, 2014 at 8:53 am

    I am so guilty of this. But since I am giving up Guilt for lent, I will take this devotional with me today and use my tongue to praise God and lift up my brothers and sisters. Pastor you are a blessing to the Church and one if the voices that needs to be heard. Thank you for your commitment to put out these devotionals. You will never know how valuable they are. God bless you and your mission.

    In His Service,
    Greg

    Reply
  3. Carolyn Dallas says

    March 9, 2016 at 7:11 am

    Hello my name is Carolyn . I live in Bermuda I so enjoy reading these devotional a every day.I will continue to lift up the name of the “Lord” . It really does greave my heart when someone takes the name of the Lord in vain. Thank you so much for the work that you are doing. May God continue to bless you .

    Reply
  4. Beth says

    March 9, 2016 at 12:23 pm

    I have struggled with saying things I wish I hadn’t for most of my life. With the help of God and a great therapist, I am much better than I was, but still stumble sometimes. Thank you so much for your inspiring writings, which make us look at our own behavior with concern, but not with condemnation. I am learning more from Lent than ever before!

    Reply

Share your comments Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Search

Get My Books

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

  • 7 Ways to Overcome Being Busy and Accomplishing Nothing
  • Give Up My Life
  • Give Up Sorrow
  • Give Up Self-sufficiency
  • Give Up Selfish Ambition

Lastest Sermon

https://youtu.be/tkVExO0Kkdk

Latest Aerial Video

https://youtu.be/r9k_YK9sRPc

Copyright © 2023
Phil Ressler