What an interesting and contrary thing we call a mouth. The great rudder of men’s souls and snitch of the heart. It can express deep love for man and God, and utterly destroy those made in His image. It can tell the truth or pervert it into deep lies. So in this discussion, we will briefly go over some of what the Bible has to say, and then have an open discussion on the topic. Hopefully we will equip ourselves along the way to tame this wild, unyielding beast.
Wise Words About Our “Words”
(Proverbs 4:23-24) “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it is the wellspring of life. Put away from yourself a perverse mouth. Put corrupt lips far from you.”
(Psalms 34:12-13) “Which of you wants a full life? Who would like to live long enough to enjoy good things? Keep your tongue from saying evil things and your lips from speaking deceitful things.”
(Proverbs 13:3) “He who guards his mouth guards his soul. One who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.”
(1 Peter 3:10) “For, “He who would love life, and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit.”
The Mouth Tells On The Heart
(Matthew 12:34) “You offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.”
(Jeremiah 17:9-10) “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I Jehovah search the heart, I try the reins, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.”
(Proverbs 18:21) “Death and life are in the power of the tongue; those who love it will eat its fruit.”
Poisoned Well & Shipwrecks
Here we see the method of confession for salvation: Our Mouths!
(Romans 10:8-10) “But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth, and in your heart;” that is, the word of faith, which we preach: that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, one believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
Here we see that by the same method of confession for salvation, we then use the same method to complain, murmur, and destroy others.
(James 3:3-12) “Indeed, we put bits into the horses’ mouths so that they may obey us, and we guide their whole body. Behold, the ships also, though they are so big and are driven by fierce winds, are yet guided by a very small rudder, wherever the pilot desires. So the tongue is also a little member, and boasts great things. See how a small fire can spread to a large forest! And the tongue is a fire. The world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire by Gehenna. For every kind of animal, bird, creeping thing, and sea creature, is tamed, and has been tamed by mankind; but nobody can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who are made in the image of God. Out of the same mouth comes blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send out from the same opening fresh and bitter water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, yield olives, or a vine figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh water.”
How then, as James says, can the dirty well of your heart produce salvation through faith and destruction through complaining and hurting others? If the well of your heart is truly filled with faith and trust in God, then how can it mix the mud of complaining and insults from the same fountain? Moreover, who then would want to hear of the Love of God from you?
This profane mix destroys the power of your words and Testimony!
(James 1:26) “If anyone among you thinks himself to be religious while he doesn’t bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, this man’s religion is worthless.”
(Matthew 15:11+17-18) “That which enters into the mouth doesn’t defile the man; but that which proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”… “Don’t you understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the belly, and then out of the body? But the things which proceed out of the mouth come out of the heart, and they defile the man.”
Every Idol Word
(Matthew 12:35-37) “The good man out of his good treasure brings out good things, and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings out evil things. I tell you that every idle word that men speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
The Great Goal
The Standard
(Psalms 17:3) “You have proved my heart. You have visited me in the night. You have tried me, and found nothing. I have resolved that my mouth shall not disobey.”
(Proverbs 8:7-8) “For my mouth speaks truth. Wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are in righteousness. There is nothing crooked or perverse in them.”
(Psalms 19:14) “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, Yahweh, my rock, and my redeemer.”
The Execution
(Psalms 49:3) “My mouth will speak words of wisdom. My heart shall utter understanding.”
(Psalms 63:5) “My soul shall be satisfied as with the richest food. My mouth shall praise you with joyful lips,”
(Psalms 71:8) “My mouth shall be filled with your praise, with your honor all day long.”
(Psalms 145:21) “My mouth will speak the praise of Yahweh. Let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.”
(Ephesians 4:29) “You must let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but only what is beneficial for the building up of the one in need, that it would give grace to those who hear.”
(1 Thessalonians 5:11) “Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, just as you are in fact doing.”
(Proverbs 30:32) “If you have done foolishly by exalting yourself or if you have planned evil, put your hand over your mouth!”
“Better to be slow to anger than to be a mighty warrior, and one who controls his temper is better
than one who captures a city.” (Proverbs 16:32)
“The mouth of the righteous produces wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut off. The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked is perverse.” (Proverbs 10:31-32)