{"id":340,"date":"2021-04-21T01:43:52","date_gmt":"2021-04-21T01:43:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.smalltowntheologian.org\/?p=340"},"modified":"2021-04-21T14:40:42","modified_gmt":"2021-04-21T14:40:42","slug":"glorifying-god-with-our-words","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smalltowntheologian.org\/glorifying-god-with-our-words\/","title":{"rendered":"Glorifying God with Our Words"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/anchor.fm\/smalltowntheologian\/embed\/episodes\/STT-021---Glorifying-God-with-Our-Words-evbi1a\" height=\"102px\" width=\"400px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n<p>\u201cI hate you.\u201d Just like that, I said it. My mother quickly and firmly addressed it. I can\u2019t think of another time after that that I told my sister I hated her. I was a little kid, but I have a faint recollection of my nasty performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I cannot recount the number of insensitive, angry, spiteful, disgruntled, bitter, malicious, vile, vulgar, profane, blasphemous, deceitful, false, and hurtful words that I have said in my lifetime. I\u2019m an excitable, extroverted, and expressive person, and controlling my mouth is difficult for me. Perhaps you\u2019re extroverted too and feel my pain. However, even introverts have used words wickedly but likely not in the same volume.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jesus once said, \u201cI tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak\u201d (Mt. 12:36). Maybe we should say less or at least be slower in saying what we think we should say. They say, \u201cLook before you leap.\u201d That\u2019s good advice. We should also <em>think<\/em> before we <em>speak<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Within its <em>gratitude <\/em>section, the Heidelberg Catechism helpfully explains what the 10 Commandments mean. All 10 Commandments connect in some way to our words, but here are a few connections. In reference to the third commandment, Heidelberg 99 advocates praising God \u201cin <em>all<\/em> our words.\u201d In reference to the sixth commandment, Heidelberg 105 says we are \u201cnot to dishonor, hate, injure, or kill [our] neighbor by . . . words.\u201d Heidelberg 109 explains that in the seventh commandment God \u201cforbids all unchaste . . . words.\u201d The ninth commandment explicitly addresses words, and Heidelberg 112 explains it to mean that we \u201cmust not give false testimony against anyone . . . not gossip or slander, nor condemn or join in condemning anyone rashly and unheard . . . avoid all lying and deceit . . . [and] speak and confess [the truth] honestly.\u201d We struggle with these things. Our loving heavenly Father has yet to complete His work of sanctification in us. But as He sanctifies our hearts, He is also lovingly sanctifying our mouths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are seven points from the Proverbs to encourage you to ask the Lord for His grace and Spirit to help you speak good words, but also thank the Lord that He is actively giving you the help you need to speak life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol type=\"1\"><li><strong>Restraining yourself shows wisdom. <\/strong>Proverbs 10:19 says, \u201cWhen words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.\u201d Not saying it, even if you really want to say it, show God\u2019s wisdom at work in you. Show restraint in order to love God and your neighbor.<\/li><li><strong>Your words can either kill or heal. <\/strong>Imagine someone thrusting a sword into your chest and piercing your heart. That\u2019s a gruesome image. Proverbs 12:18 says, \u201cThere is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.\u201d Wouldn\u2019t you rather soothe someone\u2019s heart with your words than stab and wound it? &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><li><strong>Being slow to speak gives you further hope in the righteousness of Christ. <\/strong>There is very little hope for a person who speaks recklessly. Proverbs 29:20 says, \u201cDo you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.\u201d I think this is why James said, \u201clet every person be quick to hear, <em>slow to speak<\/em>, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God\u201d (James 1:19-20). Being slow to speak doesn\u2019t mean we don\u2019t speak; it means we calculate before we speak. Proverbs 15:28 adds, \u201cThe heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.\u201d<\/li><li><strong>When you lie to and flatter others you are hating them. <\/strong>Think of a venomous snake striking its prey. That\u2019s you when you lie and flatter! Proverbs 26:28 says, \u201cA lying tongue hates its victims, and a flattering mouth works ruin.\u201d Your honesty is a gift of love. &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><li><strong>When you lie to others you are pursuing your own misery<\/strong>. Proverbs 17:20 says, \u201cA man of crooked heart does not discover good, and one with a dishonest tongue falls into calamity.\u201d Imagine what an honest tongue does. &nbsp;<\/li><li><strong>Gentle and good words give life. <\/strong>Don\u2019t you love fruit trees? They give us beautiful and delectable gifts. Proverbs 15:4, \u201cA gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.\u201d With the Spirit\u2019s help, we don\u2019t need to break the spirits of others; we can speak life. Matthew Henry once commented, \u201cHe that knows how to discourse will make the place he lives in a paradise.\u201d [1]<\/li><li><strong>God hates liars, so be sure you\u2019re an honest person.<\/strong> You might not like the way I put that, but consider Proverbs 6:16-19. It explains things that the Lord hates, things that are an abomination to Him, and one of them is \u201ca false witness who breathes out lies.\u201d God doesn\u2019t simply hate the lies but also the false witness who tells them. Thank the Lord that He has not left us in our sin, but by His grace and Spirit, He is making us honest men and women! Proverbs 24:26 says, \u201cWhoever gives an honest answer kisses the lips.\u201d I don\u2019t want to kiss everyone on the lips, but I love kissing my wife on the lips, and telling the truth is kind of like that. It\u2019s good, it\u2019s loving, it displays affection for the other person.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Our comfort is that God has granted us His Holy Spirit so that we are heartily ready and willing from now on to use our words to serve and love God and others. We are not without help. If we confess the sins of our mouth, God is faithful and just to forgive us and to sanctify our hearts and mouths. Let us trust the Lord to produce good things in our hearts which will inevitably overflow from our mouths. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>[1] Matthew Henry, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/ref.ly\/logosres\/mhenry?ref=Bible.Pr15.4&amp;off=384&amp;ctx=+virtue%2c+Rev.+22%3a2.+~He+that+knows+how+to\">Matthew Henry\u2019s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume<\/a><\/em> (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 987.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cI hate you.\u201d Just like that, I said it. My mother quickly and firmly addressed it. I can\u2019t think of another time after that that I told my sister I hated her. I was a little kid, but I have a faint recollection of my nasty performance. I cannot recount the number of insensitive, angry, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":341,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smalltowntheologian.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smalltowntheologian.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smalltowntheologian.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smalltowntheologian.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smalltowntheologian.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.smalltowntheologian.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smalltowntheologian.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smalltowntheologian.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smalltowntheologian.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smalltowntheologian.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}