Removing Harmful Words
"Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble." Proverbs 21:23 ESV
Here it is, Day 2 of the Ephesians 4:29 Challenge. How was Day 1? One friend wrote and said he found himself intentionally thinking about and measuring his words before he spoke. That's the idea. In fact, as we look back at Ephesians 4:29, it is clear that Paul puts our words in two distinct categories... "corrupting talk" and words that are "good for buiding up". Today, I want us to think about the first group.
The word "corruptive" in this passage is a Greek word that means, "rotten, putrified, no longer fit for use, worn out, of poor quality, worthless". It was a word that describes fruit that has gone bad. All of us have probably let some apples, peaches or bananas stay around the house too long. Kinda gross, isn't it? There are some things, when they "go bad", can actually be harmful, even deadly, like outdated medication. Other things, like certain chemicals, can actually become corrosive.
This first type of speech includes words that are careless and thoughtless.
They would include certain vulgar words and curse words we have carried over from our "former lives" that have no place in our new life in Christ.
It would also include sarcasm. Today's comedians make their living off this type of speech. The intent of sarcasm is to "mock or convey contempt". When directed at others, we are intentionally trying to belittle them. I know this may be a shock to some Christians, but sarcasm is not a spiritual gift.
Grumbling and complaining would also be "corrupting". As a believer, when I complain, I am communicating to a lost world that I am not satisfied with the lot and life God has given me. By the way, God takes complaining seriously (see Exodus 16). The Apostle Paul admonished the Philippian believers to, "Do all things without grumbling," (Phil. 2:14). Is there ever a proper way to complain? Sure. We want to help businesses improve their services. But most of my grumbling and complaining is not thought out and constructive, it is a result of personal frustration that things did not go the way I thought they should go. What should we do with our legitimate frustrations? What should we do with our complaints? Take them to God in prayer!
"Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice." Psalm 55:17
While I could go on (I have a long list of ways I have personally blown it with my words!), I want to give one more; hyper-critcal words. This type of "nit-picking" is a favorite past-time among many Christians. "The music wasn't the way I like it at church, not my style". "The pastor spoke too long." "The church was too cold (or too hot)." "There was a baby crying." And we bring this one home with us. We use it on our spouse and our children. But, if we stopped and thought about it, most of us would never want to be held to this impossible standard of perfection we expect from others.
Okay. Enough of that! The idea here is not to beat us up, but to make us more sensitive, thoughful and careful about the words we speak. How do we do that? Here are a few suggestions... Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to help guard your words today. Ask your family and friends to help hold you accountable in this area (but remind them, this is not their opportunity to beat you up!). Memorize Scripture passages (like the one at the top of the page) related to our words and converations.
Tomorrow we will look at the second category of words and speech from Ephesians 4:29, those that "build up".
Please pray for me as I will for you this day!
Randy
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