The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.
(Prov. 15:4)
If you have ever had a leak in your roof, one thing you’ve learned through the process is that water and gravity work together to find openings where that water can leak through. If there is a crack, water will find its way.
This is also true with words. They just find a way to come out. Words that should never be spoken always manage to find their way somehow to our tongue and slip out – usually to our regret. It may take the form of complaining or whining, or anger or yelling, or gossip or backbiting, but whatever, like a water leak, it finds it way out.
That is why James instructs us with a profound truth,
…No man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth comes praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?
(James 3:8-11)
The tongue, or the words that come from our mouth, are simply the outward expression of what is in our heart. We all know that not everything in our heart is good.
Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” This is truer before we became born again and gave our lives to Jesus.
When we gave our lives to Him then the Holy Spirit took residence with us and began to purify our hearts. We need the Lord to purify our hearts but that is a life-long process and the words we speak are the proof of it. They expose too often what is embarrassingly in our hearts.
Did you know that most of the negative words in various forms we speak come from dissatisfied hearts produced by selfish desire? James 3:13-16 helps us to understand the source of wrong motivation that leads to wrong thinking, sinful speaking, and evil behavior.
It’s selfish desire, ambition, and jealousy over what others have and fear of not being able to get what we want in life.
Look at a teen that is trying to break out into his or her own selfish life. They often let themselves be influenced by people that don’t know God’s ways. They want to figure things out for themselves.
They become self-oriented and want their own way. They stop taking counsel. They begin to practice wrong thinking, speaking, and behavior. This is why it is important for families to be in strong churches that influence not just teens but people at every age level.
Adults do that same thing. They engage in break room gossip. They are jealous of someone else’s good looks, or personal discipline, or promotion. Anyone that does not agree with them becomes their verbal target.
They make fun of others to feel better about themselves. They get in strife at anything that bothers them. They skip church for rest, relaxation and entertainment. They become too busy to read and mediate upon the Word of God and pray. They are doing life their way.
They don’t like it in teenagers, but don’t see the same patterns in their own life. God’s touch, presence, and influence becomes lacking and words become unimportant and tools of destruction.
Our hearts need the constant touch and presence of God in many forms. Church, Bible study, reading and meditation, prayer, and fellowship with others that love God. This gives place to the Holy Spirit continually putting our hearts and words in check. We become more sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s influence helping us curb the words we speak.
We become imparters of words of grace that bring health and blessing to others instead of destruction and death. Again, as Proverbs 15:4 says, “The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.”
God does give us the free will to think, do, and speak as we want, but if we want God’s words producing blessing in our lives and those in our lives, we need to fill our hearts and minds with Him!
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Timothy Burt is a pastor, author, and writer. He is best known as the author of Fresh Manna, a daily devotional and online Bible study.
Pastor Tim became a part of the leadership team at Living Word Christian Center in 1984 and was an Associate Pastor from 1989 until May 31st, 2017. He and His wife Renee, also a Pastor at Living Word, resigned after being a part of Living Word for 33 years on May 31, 2017. They felt impressed by God to pursue the tremendous growth of their ministry "Fresh Manna," as well as teaching conferences and seminars and increasing their involvement in the mission field through Tim and Renee Burt Ministries. Tim has a Bachelor of Theology degree and is a Christian blogger who has been writing a daily inspirational and teaching devotion three days a week called "Fresh Manna" for the past 22 years. It has been read in over 227 countries (official countries and territories). Tim was named one of the top 55 blogging Pastors. He is one of the top Social Media influencers in Minnesota with a strong presence on Twitter at https://twitter.com/TimBurt with over 187,000 followers. Between Tim's Fresh Manna Devotional and Twitter influence, he virally averages reaching over 4 million people daily with the gospel of Jesus Christ and the love of God.
Prior to working at LWCC, he worked at Northwest Airlines for 13 years. In 1985 he founded and was President of American Infant Care Products which marketed his patented invention, the first fold-down commercial infant changing table now used worldwide in public restrooms.
In their tenure at Living Word, Timothy Burt and his wife Renee created a Small Group Ministry when the church was about 800 people in size. Under the leadership of Sr. Pastors Mac and Lynne Hammond, the church grew to over 10,000 people. Pastor Tim and Renee led a diverse Small Group Ministry of over 200 groups. Tim also led weekly men's groups and a monthly Men's Breakfast of 250 plus men called Manhood for 27 years. Tim's responsibilities also included oversight over the Visitor and Member Relations Department, Leadership and Volunteer Development, and the Pastoral Care Department. Pastor Tim was also the Minnesota State Director of Christians United for Israel from 2006 thru 2017.
Tim and Renee are the parents of four children and have seven grandchildren. Tim loves to write, golf, run, and walk, and is a master gardener. He is a five-time marathon finisher. He is also a three-time award-winning gardener winning the Grand Prize in his city for his beautiful home garden and is a Master Gardener for the University of Minnesota's Master Gardener Extension Program.