AT THE WELL...the words we speak

I am joining my good friend, LAURIE ANN today over AT THE WELL. Laurie Ann is leading us today in the topic of "The Words We Speak". Be sure to jump over to her site today and check out her thoughts, she always inspires me and I know that she will share something great about this topic with us.

Laurie Ann has led us in the following discussion questions today:

• Do the words you speak reflect your reverence for Christ?
• Would you consider your speech to be self-controlled and pure?
• Do you find gossip and slander hard or easy to avoid?

FROM MY HEART TO YOURS AT THE WELL....

The words that we use can either kill and destroy or build up and encourage. It is my desire that the words that come out of my mouth would be that of encouragement and building up and edifying. But if I was honest with you, I would have to say that not at all times do my words do that. I find it much easier to speak well of strangers, but sometimes my honesty and my frustration may come out in the words I use to those that I love the most, my family. As I come more in tune with the words I use, I find that my reflection of Christ will come thru my speech more often.

Do you know the definition of the tongue?

TONGUE: 1. The tongue is the large bundle of skeletal muscles on the floor of the mouth that manipulates food for chewing and swallowing. It is the primary organ of taste. Much of the surface of the tongue is covered in taste buds. 2. The tongue, with its wide variety of possible movements, assists in forming the sounds of speech. It is sensitive and kept moist by saliva and is richly supplied with nerves and blood vessels to help it move.

There are two things our tongue is useful for….
1. TASTE
2. SPEECH

WHEN IT COMES TO THE TONGUE AND TASTE:
The tongue is an amazing thing. Try putting something sweet in your mouth such as chocolate, or ice cream, or some juicy fruit. This is a pleasing taste. Now try putting something sour in your mouth such as pickle juice, or vinegar, or spoiled milk. Your tongue with its taste buds enables you to smile or immediately spew something out.

Having control of your tongue is allowing those sweet, pleasing things instead of the sour, spoilage spew out of your mouth.

Prov. 21:23 “Whoever guards his mouth
and tongue keeps his soul from troubles”

WHEN IT COMES TO THE TONGUE AND SPEECH:
Without a tongue, we would not be able to form sounds and be able speak. At a young age we practiced forming sounds and syllables and with practice we mastered this thing called “speech”. The control of our tongue is something we need to practice. Practice encouragement and praise with your tongue this week.

Ephesians. 4:29 “ Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.”

When it comes to answering the questions posed to us today, it is hard for me to imagine anybody being able to say that AT ALL times their speech depicts this character posed before us today. For there is nobody perfect, no not one. Only Jesus Christ was perfect. It is our desire and our goal to be more like Him, so controlling the tongue or taming it is a goal that we should all as Christians have.

If one of the purposes of our tongue is taste - I am reminded of what Christ tells us in Matthew: “You are the salt of the earth, BUT IF SALT HAS LOST ITS TASTE, HOW SHALL ITS SALTINESS BE RESTORED? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.” ( 5:13 )

There are various ways in which salt has its usefulness ~ it adds flavor, brings healing, preserves, etc. As I look at this passage in Matthew 5:13, I not only see that Christ is comparing the impact that we have on others with the analogy of salt but He also poses a question to us. Look ...

"But if salt has lost its taste, HOW shall its saltiness be restored?"

I think this part of the passage gets overlooked.

In order to understand the tongue and how it works we must understand this warning that Christ gives. This warning is implying to us that there is a possibility of losing the QUALITY that influences others. If the quality of our tongue, (or the salt) is lost, then what good is our life then? What benefit would we be? Could our life not also be described as being “no longer good for anything”?

Though salt’s saltiness may not be restored once it is lost, praise God, He is able to renew His intended qualities back into our life as we turn to Him in genuine repentance. Nevertheless, we must still take the warning to heart, acknowledging that completely losing our salty influence could be reached if we are not careful. We must be careful with the impact and the influence that our tongue, (our words) have on others.

This means we ought to always strive to maintain the qualities of Christ so that we may carry on the godly impact and influence this world so desperately needs. Jesus said, “You are the salt.” Let us continue to BE THE SALT to His glory and for the benefit of those around us!

May we not lose the TASTE for those things that are sweet and pleasing, those things that come from the Lord. May our words be considered the salt that we pour out onto those around us. When we do this, I believe Laurie Ann's 3rd question will be easy to answer.

Why not join us over AT THE WELL where more of our friends are chattering about this topic of THE WORDS WE SPEAK. Find more postings HERE! You can also visit CHELSEY who leads all of us over AT THE WELL with her organizational skills. If you have a topic that you would like to see us discuss, let Chelsey know.