If you are a Christian like myself, then I am sure you have often been surprised over the frequency of which your very own words have offended and shocked you, bringing forth humiliation and shame rooted in the knowledge that you have at that very moment decided to use your tongue to curse rather than bless, to judge and breakdown rather than secure and uphold another, as our Lord Jesus Christ has commanded us.
A rude comment, a course joke, a negative judgment; we as Christian's all know that these belong to the temporal world and not the eternal Kingdom of our Father, as Paul sternly reminded the church at Ephesus (Ephesians 5:4). So why do we continuously allow our tongue to rebel against our faith we so firmly believe and live in? And more importantly, how can we prevent it from happening in the future?
Everyone that is old enough to read this article has most assuredly experienced a "foot in mouth" moment. Otherwise, a time when one instantly regrets the little rambunctious words that have somehow managed to have slipped -- blissfully ignorant to world around them, with a seeming life of their own -- from their tongue, through their lips and unfortunately unto their listeners all too aware and now offended ears. Like myself, you too may have wished that there resided a warden over the tongue. One who holds lock and key, and forces he or she to explain their reasoning to speak the words that they wish to speak at that very moment.
Doubtless, you and I would have been denied articulation more times than we may wish to meditate upon. But there in lies the answer. As baptized Christians, we have willfully submitted control of our life to our Lord through Jesus Christ, and thereby have received his Holy Spirit, the very Spirit of God. Yet, Jesus himself states in the Gospels that his yoke is easy, and his burden is light (Mathew 11:30); giving us reason to understand that we still maintain a great deal of free will over our actions and words, even as Christians. It is true that the Spirit lives within each and every one of us, however, we must allow it to nurture us according to God's will.
In the New Testament, specifically the Gospel of John, Jesus tells the Apostles that the Advocate, or the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth that proceeds from the Father, will testify about him, allowing all believers to take root in Jesus' teachings, firmly knowing who he is, what it is he achieved through the will of the Father, and how they should proceed in their faith (John 15:26). In the Book of Acts, the Twelve eventually receive this Advocate, this Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit, and thenceforth come out of hiding and immediately begin to act upon God's will (Acts 2:4). Miracles were performed, the Good News of the Gospels was preached, Paul was transformed from Christianity's strongest enemy into its strongest teacher and most important of all, the Church, otherwise known as the body of believers of Jesus Christ was formed, enabling countless numbers including you and I to receive the very same Holy Spirit.
And It is this Spirit whom we are to willingly, joyfully, hand over the lock and keys to our heart, mind, and body - our emotional responses, thoughts, and actions. The Spirit is the warden we feel we so desperately need after times of embarrassment, shame and guilt -- spiritual separation. However, at this point I feel that I must change my metaphor. We of the faith know that the Spirit is nothing resembling a warden at all, but more like that of a jovial and loving parent who picks us up time and again after we fall, all the while remaining stern in God's truth, thereby giving us an allowance of divine knowledge so as to repent over and chase after from that time forward.
It is the Holy Spirit that allows us to transform our selves into the likeness of Christ, granting us divine wisdom and grace when desired. But that is the beautiful price. We must desire after divine wisdom and allow the Holy Spirit to temper us into Christians worthy of the name. Understanding this, we may then understand that we represent God, having his Spirit residing within us. We must realize that not only our actions, but our words, even our very thoughts articulate our obedient or obdurate will towards the impressions of our Lord's Spirit within us. Countless times have I been in conversation and before I could respond I have sensed a voice warning me not to say what was on the tip of my tongue, and only upon saying it would I instantly regret the decision and seek forgiveness, realizing the folly of my words.
We must all as Christians understand that the words we speak represent us just as substantially as our actions do. We have all heard the old adage that "actions speak louder than words," and in many cases they do. However, we must also admit that words, like actions, have the ability to hurt, maim, steal and abuse another; sometimes more thoroughly and with a greater longevity than actions. The physical bruises we received while growing up have, for the most part I'm sure healed. Yet, hear that specific name you were once called, relive the rumor that was cruelly created around a misunderstood event or witness the judgement placed upon another that was once placed so unmercifully upon you, and it is enough to bring tears to the eyes and make the strongest of us feel small and vulnerable again.
Therefore, it is imperative that we as Christians come to the understanding that our words represent us just as soundly as our actions do. Take America's current election season, charging full steam ahead upon every newspaper, and news channel. Yes, we all look to the past and current actions of the candidates, but we also listen closely and hang upon their words. Many instances in history show that a well spoken speech has the power to change the hearts and minds of a nation, whether for good or for bad; Gettysburg and Nuremeberg for example. As far as words over actions are concerned, we may once again look to Christ Jesus, and understand that he wasn't called the Action of God. No, in the Gospel of John it is made clear that Jesus is the Word of God, and that through the Word all of creation was brought forth; through words came creation, came action (John 1:1-5).
Through scripture we are told how there is power in Jesus' name, a word, as the seventy-two disciples whom he sent out so gleefully exclaimed to him upon returning from their mission to sow God's Word into the hearts of the people across the country (Luke 10:17). In fact, Jesus grew angry with the Pharisees when they demanded a miracle (Mathew 16:1-4), rebuked the crowd around the demon possessed boy whom the Apostles could not heal for their lack of faith before he performed the miracle himself (Mark 9:19), and lastly told the Apostles post-Resurrection that they believe in him because they see him, as was the case of the Apostle Thomas, "But blessed are those who believe without seeing" (John 20:29). How then, can one be expected to believe without sight? Through the articulation of spoken and/or written words. We see the importance of faith over miracle, scripture before action.
My fellow Christians, my point is not to take the importance of action away from our lives. On the contrary, we are tempered through action and made spiritually, mentally, and physically stronger from it. No, my point is not to neglect action, but to empathize the importance of the spoken word. Our words understandably have the power to bless, or the unfortunate power to curse. In fact, in the Old Testament we read of Balaam, a sorcerer sent and paid by the kingdom of Moab to curse the Israelites. This curse was to be spoken words, something we living in our current age may scoff against as nonsense.
However, the Lord did not take this proposed curse lightly, nor should we my fellow Christians. This potential curse, a string of words to come form a mortals mouth, was enough to have the Lord intervene, and not only did He prevent Balaam from delivering it, but he allowed Balaam to understand the folly of his attempted action, and the truth of the Lord's omniscience and omnipotence. In the end, the desired curse was turned into -- through repentance and the help of the Spirit -- a blessing for Israel (Numbers 22-24). Moab was unable to harm God's chosen people through verbal articulation, so why should we think we will get away with verbally harming one another?
No, we should not allow our tongues to partake in worldly gossip, course jokes, rude comments, idle foolish banter, nor heated rumor. When it comes to our words as well as our actions we should continuously look towards the Spirit that dwells within us, and refresh ourselves daily with Scripture. As Paul says, "Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God -- truly righteous and holy" (Ephesians 4:21-24)
