Saying Good Things

Mat 12:35-37
(35) A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
(36) But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
(37) For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

In this day and age, we are all encouraged to give our opinion. There is a right to free speech, and an expectation that everyone that can speak has something useful to say. And the world is encouraged to speak its mind.

You can listen to the radio – it is full of phone ins, where people who's only qualification to speak on a subject is that they feel emotional enough to call the free-phone number. You no longer need to be educated, informed or even intelligent to speak out – you just need to be enthusiastic! It is even to the point where the Time person of the year is – YOU! and all of the good things that you say and do.

And most of what you hear has very little to do with God and Godliness. And in this day and age, a scripture comes to mind

Pro 10:19
(19)In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.

So it is becoming of us, who would be the wise sons and daughters of God to watch what we say. We should guard our lips, so that we are not found speaking sinful things before the Lord that we serve. But there is more than this. We know that the words you speak effect your life. And we need to consider – how are we effecting our life by the things we are saying?

Pro 16:24
(24) Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.

In this day and age, when almost everything that we hear is full of criticism, emotion, foolishness and selfishness, we should be speaking good things. We should be saying pleasant things, not hurtful and nasty things. This is because we are called in this day and age to give up our rights to express our mind in order to express the mind of Christ.

The Bible tells us that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. So you can tell what is in your heart from the words that you hear yourself saying. And we need to judge the things we are saying by some kind of spiritual, scriptural filter, so that we can know if what is coming out of our lips is of God or not.

Gal 5:14-24
(14) For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
(15) But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.
(16) This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
(17) For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
(18) But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
(19) Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
(20) Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
(21) Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
(22) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
(23) Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
(24) And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

So if we find in our mouths words of unkindness, words of gossip, words of lust and envy, we have been speaking from the heart of our flesh. If we find that our conversation is the same as the conversation of the world – we are living according to the same standard as the world. And this means one of two things. Either we have evil in our hearts or we have been allowing the flesh to overcome the Spirit of God that dwells in us.

Neither of these two things is a desirable state for a Christian to be in! If we recognise either of these two states, we should immediately turn to the Lord and repent. If we are not willing to do this, but prefer to keep the rights that are so firmly pushed on us by society, we have chosen not to give God the position he deserves and desires in our life.

I believe that the best thing for us to do is only speak positive things. May times we find ourselves thinking negative thoughts about people and situations. This is perfectly natural – but we are not called to be perfectly natural humans. We are called to have the mind of Christ, and display the life of Christ. We know that we are in a battle between the flesh and the spirit. When we speak the things of the flesh, we give power to them. When we speak the things of the spirit, we give power to them. So in our lives we should make every attempt to only speak the things of the spirit – the things that are pleasing to God.

Phi 4:8
(8) Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

This scripture gives us a good guide as to the what the mind of Christ should be dwelling on. And if the heart of a believer is producing these things in abundance, and the mind of a believer is dwelling on these things, then the lips of a believer should be producing these things. And if your mind is not producing these good thoughts, you know that you are thinking in the flesh and not in the spirit. And then if you are speaking the discouraging thoughts of the flesh, you are giving power to the part of you that is opposed to God. What should we do in this case?

Jam 4:7-11
(7) Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
(8) Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
(9) Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
(10) Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
(11) Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.

So we should submit to God to purify our minds. And we also need to purify our lips – and let the words we speak come from the Spirit, not the flesh. If we are truly follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, and have been converted in our hearts, we should speak those things that are becoming to believers, not those things that come from the Old Sinful nature that dwells within us. It no longer controls the heart, but it certainly can influence the mind. The Bible speaks in many places about the battle we face to overcome the flesh living in our bodies. It is full of encouragement and wisdom in this matter.

Eph 4:20-32
(20) But ye have not so learned Christ;
(21) If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:
(22) That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
(23) And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
(24) And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
(25) Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another.
(26) Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
(27) Neither give place to the devil.
(28) Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
(29) Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
(30) And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
(31) Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
(32) And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

So there is the battle for us. There is the fight for us in this day and age, when we are encouraged now, more than any other time, to speak our minds, to dare to say things which will offend, because we know that we have the right to. We shouldn't be this way, but we should talk about others the way that we would like to be spoken about. You should say only nice things about each other, for we'd all prefer to be spoken about in nice ways. There are certainly times when we should approach someone with the problems that we have with them, but we shouldn't speak to others about the same problems, unless we are seeking counsel. And if we hear things about others, we shouldn't repeat them!

This is our greatest battleground today. The Scripture is clear on this.

Jam 3:2-10
(2) For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.
(3) Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.
(4) Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth.
(5) Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
(6) And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity; so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
(7) For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:
(8) But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
(9) Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.
(10) Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.

So let us try to put these thoughts into action in our lives. Let us make the attempt to avoid saying things that could be misunderstood, or things that are misleading about other people. Let us guard our tongues, and control them in prayer and submission to the Lord. We must make sure we are not giving power to the thoughts of the flesh by speaking them. If we are to be judged for every idle word, let us be sure that our idle words are things of good, not things of evil, and that every conversation we have is something that we can be proud of before the Lord.

Eph 5:1-4
(1) Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children:
(2) And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savor.
(3) But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;
(4) Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.

We are his followers, and let us walk and talk in a manner pleasing to Him.