Colossians 3:8.  "But now ye also put off all these: anger, wrath, malice,blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth."

Colossians 4:6.  "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man."

I Peter 3:10.  "For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile (deceit)."

Psalm 50.  "Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I show the salvation of God."

 
Woman of Praise

Proverbs 31:30.  "...But a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised."

The Tongue
Lesson 4

What does it mean to fear the Lord?

Psalm 112:1.  "Praise ye the Lord.  Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments."
Psalm 128:1.  "Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord; that walketh in his ways. "
Proverbs 14:2.  "He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the Lord: but he that is perverse in his ways despiseth him."

According to these three Bible verses, to fear the Lord is to delight in God's commandments, to walk in God's ways, and to walk uprightly before God.

Why we must learn to bridle our tongues?

In the previous lessons, we learned that we need to manage our tongues for the following reasons:

1. It is a charge of God.  Proverbs 8:13.  "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate."
   
2. It qualifies us to be mature Christians.  James 3:2b.  "If anyone offend (stumble) not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body."
   
3. We receive the ability to control the entire body when we master restraining our tongues.  (James 3:2b).

The fourth reason we must learn to bridle our tongues is because of its destructive nature.  The tongue, if left untamed, like a hurricane, can cause enormous devastation in our marriages, relationships with others, ministries, and so on; leaving many reeling, injured, and dying in its wake.   

Here is James' version of the destructive nature of the tongue again:

James 3:5-6.  "Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things.  Behold, how great a matter (forest) a little fire kindleth!  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."

He continues in verses 8-9.  "But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.  Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God."

Here are a few people who were destroyed by their tongues.

Shemei's Cursing

In the book of 2 Samuel, chapter 16, verses 5-8, it is recorded that a man called Shemei from the house of Saul cursed David, threw stones at him, called him names, and rejoiced over the distress he was facing with Absalom, who was trying to take the kingdom from him.  

Later on in 1 Kings, chapter 2, verses 8-9, David warned his son Solomon, not to spare Shemei's life; but to deal wisely with him because, he (David) had promised him (Shemei), he would not punish him for cursing him.  So Solomon, in all his wisdom, confined Shemei to a certain geographic location, and told him that the day he found himself out of that boundary, he would kill him.  

Well, 3 years later, Shemei found himself where he was not allowed and was killed by King Solomon in 1 Kings, chapter 2, verses 36-46.  Shemei's cursing to the king had brought judgment upon his head; even though, it was more than 3 years before it came.

Nabal's Railing

1 Samuel. 25:2-38

In this scene, David sent his servants to ask for help from a wealthy man by the name of Nabal, whom the Bible describes as churlish (harsh) and evil in his doings.  David instructed his servants to greet him with words of peace, and to let him know that they had been with his shearers, and did not hurt them nor steal from them during that time.

The servants relayed the message exactly as they were told; but Nabal railed on them, treated them badly, and spoke harshly about God's Anointed (David).  Be careful how you speak about your brothers and sisters in the Lord.  Be careful how you talk about anyone at all.   The Bible says in 10 days, God judged Nabal, and he died (verse 38).  I pray this will never be your portion in Jesus' name!

Ananias and Sapphira's Lie

In the book of Acts, chapter 5, verses 1-11, Ananias and Sapphira his wife, agreed to tell a lie to the Apostle Peter concerning a piece of land they had sold--they only declared a portion of the earnings and kept the rest for themselves.  This lie, which the Apostle Peter describes as a tempting of the Spirit of God (verse 9), led to their physical death and caused great fear to fall upon many people.

Beloved, there are some sins that you will commit with your lips that will lead to your physical death, as in the case of Shemei, Nabal, and Ananias and Sapphira.  Let's not tempt the Spirit of God; but hear what the Spirit of God is saying to us; and do what He is expecting us to do.  Respect the man and woman of God placed in authority over you.  Respect God's anointed and more than that, respect the Spirit of God; and don't let your pride destroy you.  Who carries the Spirit of God?  The people of God.  

David was nobody, when Nabal reamed on him; but he was anointed and God judged Nabal and found him guilty.  I pray that you will not be found guilty for the use of your tongue.  May God bless you and teach you always out of his word!  Grace and Peace.

Proverbs 21:23.  "Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue, keepeth his soul from troubles."