Stop, Listen, Speak

It is smart to stop, listen to God, wait, think, and then speak. It takes patience to think about what needs to be said before it is spoken. It is actually polite to listen to someone’s conversation before we add our own two cents. Our tongue is perhaps the most valuable and most dangerous part of our body.

The scripture from James 3:1-2 explains about the risk of false teaching about God. It says “¹Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. ²We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.” Teachers are judged at a higher standard because God expects teachers and preachers to explain God’s word accurately and with truth. The worst thing would to be a false prophet who leads people away from God using false teachings to confuse them.

The next verses starting of James 3-10 explain about the power of the spoken word or tongue. “³When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. ⁴Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.”

“⁵Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. ⁶The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. ⁷All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, ⁸but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.”

“⁹With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. ¹⁰Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.

We are so easily controlled by the spoken word. We say things that hurt others and ourselves. We say that we will trip and fall and yet we are surprised when we actually trip and fall. We talk about our family and friends in a bad way without thinking that those words will last longer after the sound has ended.

Your children or friends will remember the words you spoke to them. Those words can be a treasure or they can be a curse. I’m going to give you two examples:

“You will not amount to much. You are a mean and bad boy.”

---- or -----

“I thank God that you are becoming such a fine young man. I see how you are showing respect to your teachers at school and working to complete your homework. I appreciate your help around the house. You bring joy that God blessed me with you as my son.”

You may think that the first comment may seem to be true, but the pain that it causes is the same pain as a knife in the back. It may make you feel good as it is spoken, but the damage cannot be repaired. It will move that young boy onto the wrong path because it states that you believe that he will not amount to much in his life. You have given him a verdict that his own parent does not believe in him.

The second comment requires that we stop, think, and speak words with love and faith. The young boy may not finish every homework assignment or do every chore to your liking, but the words are spoken with faith. The young boy will spend his life trying to live up to those words spoken in faith. The young boy will strive to try to please and figure out what you see in him that others have not found. Both comments only took a few minutes to speak, but they will last a lifetime.

The words spoken about church members can also harm or strengthen a person. We can ask why it is taking so long for someone to gain the skills required to do the job or we can thank God that they are growing everyday into the person we need to get the job done. If we keep bringing up the weaknesses of people, they will soon believe that they do not have any strength.

In Hebrews 11:1-3, the scripture instructs us about faith. “¹Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. ²For by it the elders obtained a good report. ³Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”

These words are so powerful. It tells us that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. These words make the positive statement about the son make sense. The boy can become the man described by the words of faith. Verse 2, says that by faith the elders obtained a good report. We spoke for a few minutes about a boy in both instances. It only took a little time to speak those words. One set of words condemns and frightens a young man. The other set of words encourages, strengthens, and lifts up a young boy to become a man who works hard and has faith in God because his parents thanked God for his qualities even when they were unseen when the words were spoken.

Does that make sense? Does it make sense that just thirteen words and two sentences can change lifetime? Does it make sense that words spoken in faith about a person can change a life dramatically. Our tongue is very small, but it works just like the rudder on a large ship. A small movement of our tongue can change a person’s life.

Why don’t we say what is really on our minds in a positive way? A spark from a small match can start a forest fire that can burn thousands of acres of forests and homes. It does not seem possible that a small match could do so much damage. It also does not seem possible that a small tongue in our mouth can harm those that we love so much. The spoken word can also hard us.

Guard your spoken word as if each word was worth a million dollars. Craft your sentences so that each word spoken is a gift of thought and love. Speak with the words of faith, not with the words of doubt. Speak with the words of love, not with the words of hate. Speak with the words of encouragement, not with the words that discourage. Speak with that can be fulfilled in a good way, not with the words that condemn a person to a terrible future.

Proverbs 6:2 warns us that “Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.” Our words are powerful. Our words uncover the thoughts of our mind and the dreams of our heart. Our words will fulfill God’s plan for us or we will be snared with the words of our mouth. How can words trap us? How can words change our lives? It is simple, if we speak words from the Bible those words have power. If we speak words from Satan those words have power, too. We have a choice which way our tongue will be used. We must speak with faith, love, and hope.

Proverbs 12:13 tells us “The wicked is snared by the transgression of his lips: but the just shall come out of trouble.” We should celebrate the rainbow that will come out of the storm while we are in the middle of the storm. If we speak that the storm is the biggest storm in our lives. If we speak that the storm has made us weak and afraid, then we will be weak and afraid. If we speak that we can see the rainbow and the storm is ending, we will live to see the rainbow and the future blue skies. The future is in our spoken word. We have a choice how our tongue will be used. Will it be used by God or by Satan?

Psalm 120 reads “¹In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he heard me. ²Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue. ³What shall be given unto thee or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?

In our distress we can cry and pray to God. God does hear our prayers. God does answer our prayers. We can also pray that our tongues be delivered from lies and deceit that trap us and those that we love into a life of pain and hurt. It may be that we believe that we are saying only what is true, but Psalm 120 asks us to be delivered from our lies. Satan lies to us that we are no good. If we rebuke that lie, we are okay. If we speak that lie as a spoken word, then we are snared or trapped by that lie. If Satan lies to us that we will always be sick and we speak that we have bad health, then that spoken word will come true.

On the other hand, if we speak words from the Bible about our health, our hope, and our loved ones, those words will come true. We can pray that we thank God in advance for our back to be strong, our feet to carry us where we need to go without falling, our tongues to sing of God’s glory, and our mind to understand God’s word. Remember the words from Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

It is not logical to speak words of faith. We haven’t seen the evidence of things hoped for yet. We are speaking of things hoped for BEFORE it happens. In fact, it is better to thank God for things hoped for BEORE it happens. Anyone can thank God after they see the results of God’s work. Only the faithful can thank God before the evidence of things hoped for are visible.

Proverbs 22:1-6 has a lot of wisdom. It talks about choosing a good name and trusting in God’s favor. I talks about being humble and fearing God. A good name follows from words spoken in faith, love, and hope. It says that snares are only for the wicked. It also has a very well known verse about raising our children. Listen to these words:

¹ A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,
Loving favor rather than silver and gold.
² The rich and the poor have this in common,
The LORD is the maker of them all.
³ A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself,
But the simple pass on and are punished.
⁴ By humility and the fear of the LORD
Are riches and honor and life.
⁵ Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse;
He who guards his soul will be far from them.
⁶ Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it.

Tell the story of praying for rain in Wungu. Tell the story of praying for provisions: 1) The albino twins in Zangum Zuga 2) money counted and it increased to meet the need 3) walking onto a plane to travel to Ghana when my back was in extreme pain. I have prayed for God to be in a place and experienced the power of the Holy Spirit overtaking that place.

I am pleading to you to stop, listen to God, and speak with faith. Please speak with a new found boldness that comes from knowing the Lord. We must have unity of faith to have the miracles happening right here at New Hope and Franklin County. I need your help. I am just a man doing the best I can. Lord, let the words that I speak and the actions that I take be your words and actions that you have called to take today and everyday. Let us speak with boldness and faith in unity to serve you in a mighty way.