Speech, Part 3

1 Peter 2:1
“Lay aside all … evil speaking...”

Matthew 12:35-37 “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.
36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.
37 For by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned.”

Notice the progression, and that it starts with what is inside. A good man, has good treasure, and therefore, good comes out of him. Conversely, an evil man has evil treasure in his heart and therefore, it is evil that comes from him.
Notice the message in these verses though, we see things in terms of evil and good and indifferent, or as we call it at times, amoral. God calls us to a higher calling then we ever imagine for ourselves. God knows that our conscience will get us for the blatant ones. The higher law, the greater expectation is here focusing on the flippant, wasted, thoughtless words we often throw out.

I’ve been challenged over the past several months with the verse, 2 Corinthians 10:5, “casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” This has been very helpful as it is connected to words. A few people speak without thinking. That is a disease that I don’t know how to cure. Most of us have some filter at work that enables us to stop our mouth before the words come out. Whether we use this filter or not is another question. It is in capturing these thoughts that we can control our words.

Where are we losing out in our battle with words?
Telephone?
Internet?
The foyer?
With the people we love?
Behind someone’s back?
Lies?
Slander?