Every Idle Word
Matthew 12
33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the
tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.
34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things?
for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth
good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth
evil things.
36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak,
they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou
shalt be condemned.
You can rob yourself and those around you by the use of your tongue.
With it you can speak curses or blessings. And yet, this should not
be.
Jas 3:11-13 Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet [water]
and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either
a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh. Who
is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of
a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
A person�s speech will tell you a lot about his or her walk with the
Lord.
Jas 1:26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not
his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.
We need to be careful with the use of our words.
Jas 3:6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the
tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth
on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
There are several types of talking I want each of us to watch out for:
1. Deceptive Talking
Mt 5:37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for
whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
In other words, say what you mean and mean what you say. There is no
place for dishonesty.
1 Pe 3:10 For he that will love life, and see good days, let him
refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:
2. Unkind Talking
Col 4:6 Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that
ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.
Jas 3:2 For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in
word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole
body.
Too many Christians want to give you a piece of their mind. It�s
usually the wrong piece. And it usually destroys your peace.
We should learn to speak kindly to each other. We need to stop
telling each other off, tearing each other down, hurting each other�s
feelings. The old saying is, �If you can�t say something nice, don�t
say anything at all.�
3. Unnecessary Talking
Eph 5:4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which
are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.
Filthy language and off color jokes have no place among believers.
Our speech should be that which honors God. You should never
consciously say anything you�re going do be ashamed of later.
�Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child�, the writer of
Proverbs said. We need to mature and get the foolishness our of our
hearts. Let�s stop being careless with our words. �Think before you
speak.�
4. Unacceptable Talking (specifically - Gossip)
Tit 3:2 To speak evil of no man, . . .
Pr 20:19 He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets: . . .
Pr 18:8 The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down
into the innermost parts of the belly.
Pr 17:9 . . . he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends.
Ps 101:5 Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off:
. . .
Often our problem is in defining gossip. The dictionary defines
gossip as �a trivial rumor of a personal nature.�
But I think it needs to be defined a little more clearly. Often
gossip is not trivial. Usually it is harmless. Always it is
unacceptable. There is never a good reason to share someone else�s
personal business. If they want it shared, they�ll share it.
Gossip isn�t just rumors; usually gossip is based on some truth, or
at least some perceived truth.
It is destructive in that it reports something personal about a
person when they are not present to correct any misinformation or
defend any false accusation. It causes the hearer to have a distorted
view of the facts and of the nature or character of a person. It
casts a reproach which is often hard to remove.
Gossip will split a church, a home, a friendship - any relationship.
It is destructive and evil and is from the pits of hell.
There will be no revival as long as gossip.
5. Negative Talking
Mr 11:23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto
this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and
shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things
which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
There is a truth here that we must grasp. The lesson here, of course,
is about faith, but the statement about one�s speech must not go
unnoticed.
What you say does have an effect on you. It is a psychological
principle that has been proven over and over again. You can literally
talk yourself into success or failure; sickness or health. (Naturally,
you cannot talk yourself out of cancer or injury or things of that
nature. That is a matter of faith.) But a person can defeat
themselves with their own words.
Constant complaining, continual feeling sorry for oneself, perpetually
lingering on the negative will make victory impossible. I find myself
every so often talking myself into a corner, and I have to correct my
negative attitude and get it right.
When you constantly hear negative words, it has a discouraging effect
on you. When you hear them coming out of your own mouth, it can be
even more devestating.
Conclusion:
Eph 4:29-20 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth,
but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister
grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby
ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
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