Live Faithfully - Week Seven

Loose Lips Sink Ships

James 3:1-12

Highlights from this week:

• A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops. -Henry Adams
• a tongue controlled by God will spread the good news wherever it goes
• the difference between a wise person and a foolish one is his speech
• when controlled by strong hands and good hearts, the tongue guides us to desired destinations
• our past, present, and future can be destroyed by a slip of the tongue
• if your spiritual life is dry, perhaps you have neglected your water source
• iniquity suggests different types of evil 
• angry accusations, contentious comments, or Godless gossip can burn others, leaving lives in ruin
• remember those that heat things up verbally are playing with hellfire
• hateful words can backfire on us, hurting us as much as those we have attacked
• we can't control our tongues, but God can if we give Him the keys
• a curse is a prayer for evil or misfortune for others
• p. 176 - "without fresh water, there can be no life.  97% of the Earth's water is salty, making it unusable for drinking or farming.  Only 3% is fresh water.  How does your speech compare to those statistics?  Mostly bitter and only a little bit refreshing?"

This week about taming the tongue probably didn't sit well with a lot of us.  Our mouth gets us in trouble more often than anything else about us I think.  This direct quote from page 172 sums it up very well.

Symptoms of gossip poisoning:

1. Dislike: developing bitterness even though the person involved did not directly offend you.
2. Disapproval: criticizing those involved; acting as the judge in the matter while recruiting others to "your side".
3. DIstortion: searching out more gossip and using it to give the worst possible impression of others or to make yourself look spiritual.
4. Deception: believing that such actions are actually accomplishing God's will and using prayer to spread rumors further.

Antidotes to gossip poisoning:

1. Repentance: ask God to cleanse your mind and to forgive you for poisoning others with gossip; 1 John 1:9
2. Restoration: pray for genuine love for everyone involved; if you've sinned against someone make it right; Matthew 5:23-24
3. Renewal: be transformed by renewing your mind with truth instead of lies; God's word is the antidote of the soul; John 15:3