Your Spiritual Dipstick

Read James 2:18-3:18

“If we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and
could also control ourselves in every other way.”
(James 3:2)

Thoughts… When James uses the word “perfect,” he doesn’t mean sinless. The word “perfect” literally means mature and healthy. And your tongue is what gauges your spiritual health. Just think of your tongue as a spiritual dipstick, measuring the level of your spiritual vitality.

Jesus explained it this way in Matthew 12:34, “For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” In other words, your words simply display what you already are. Your words direct where you go; they can destroy what you have. But most of all, they disclose who you are—the real you!

If you’ve got a problem with your tongue, it’s much more serious that you think: What you really have is a heart problem. A person with a harsh tongue has an angry heart; a negative tongue comes from a fearful heart; an overactive tongue—an insecure heart; a boasting tongue is from a prideful heart; a filthy tongue has an impure heart. A critical tongue reveals a bitter heart.

On the other hand, a person who is always encouraging has a joyful heart. One who speaks gently has a loving heart. Someone who speaks truthfully has an honest heart.

So if you have a tongue issue, you need to deal with your heart problems. How?

To begin with, you’ve got to get a new heart. Mouth control begins with a heart transplant. Ezekiel 18:31 says, “Rid yourself of all the offenses you have committed and get a new heart and a new spirit!”

Painting the pump doesn’t make any difference if there is poison in the well. You can change the outside, turn over a new leaf, but what you really need is a new life or a fresh start. You need supernatural surgery from the Great Physician

David prayed in Psalm 51, “Create in me a clean heart, O God.” Maybe you ought to pray that prayer right now, because God is in the heart transplant business. Ezekiel 36:26 says of God, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”

Then once God gives you a new heart, ask him for help every day. You need supernatural power to control your tongue. You can’t do it alone. Your life is a living proof of that. That’s why we’ve got to daily ask God to help us. In Psalm 141:3, the psalmist prays, “Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.”

That’s a great verse to memorize and pray every morning: “God, muzzle my mouth. Don’t let me be critical or judgmental or harsh today. Don’t let me say things that I’ll regret.” If you ask God for help, he will.

Finally, the solution to mastering your mouth is in the discipline of thinking before you speak. Back in James 1:19, we were told, “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” One quick and two slows. In other words, engage your mind before you put your mouth in gear. Control your thinking and you’ll control your speaking. Control your speaking and you’ll control you whole life. And the best way to control your thinking is by filling your mind with the Word of God. What goes into your mind, gets into your heart, and what gets into your heart, comes out of your mouth.

There are 800,000 words in the English language, 300,000 are technical terms. The average person knows 10,000 words and uses 5,000 in everyday speech.

Why don’t you make a commitment to use all 5,000 to speak life with your tongue.

Prayer… Lord, help me to use every single word today to bring glory and honor to you and life to those around me.

One More Thing… “Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.” —Mother Teresa