Life Development Toolbox - June 06
In this issue
-- James 3
-- Challenge
-- Toolbox Quotes
Welcome to the latest edition of the Life Development Toolbox. This month we are looking at a tool that often gets out of hand – our tongue!
James 3
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Verse One. The tool of teachers – highlighted here as very important,
the implied wrong use of which is strongly condemned.
Verse Two The tongue seen as pivotal to the rest of our make up. Our confession
of the change Jesus has made to our lives is an integral part of our salvation
according to Romans 10:9, Matt. 10:32 and 1 John 4:15. That is how important
our tongue is – without the use of it by others, we would never have
heard about Jesus in the first place.
Verses Three to Five. The power of the use of the tongue is compared with natural examples, showing how what we say can alter the direction of our lives. “Great boasts” (NIV) are not always a good idea. By all means boast about Christ (2 Cor. 10:17) but to do so in church life about our achievements shows that we do not understand that without God’s help we can do nothing of lasting value. To achieve God’s goals for our lives, we will need to make clear decisions on how we use our tongues! It has been said, “It is not your circumstances that determine your destiny, it’s the decisions you make.”
Verse Six They say that jaw jaw is better than war war but this ignores the fact that war always comes as a result of the wrong use of the tongue. Altercations between neighbours, for example, usually starts with reactions and cross words which have nothing to do with the demonstration of God’s love and grace for all of mankind.
Verse Seven What a graphic indictment against our use of the tongue! An encouragement, surely, for us guarding what we say to others with great care. Do we even consider that when we speak to people, Christian or non-Christian, we have a ministry to perform? Someone once said that when we speak to others we always leave them “up” or “down”, we never leave them the same. There are some people we don’t like speaking to because they are “heavy weather”. They are full of their own trials and tribulations and love to offload onto us! We always like to be with people who do us good – lets determine that we will be those kind of people.
Verses Nine to Twelve Insincerity is a cancer in the modern church. People put on a “face” and what they project has all the appearance but none of the integrity God requires. Remember – we can perhaps deceive others, but never God who always knows our thoughts. Deception is the devil’s game.
Verses Thirteen to Sixteen These verses illustrate the battle we are all involved in – the battle between our natural “old man” tendencies and the new life we have in God. Verse 15 describes the former as “unspiritual” and recommends wisdom from God as the required alternative.
Verses Seventeen and Eighteen This wisdom is seen as “from heaven” and points to the gift of the Holy Spirit as listed in 1 Cor. 12. Without the Holy Spirit, none of us can aspire to the life God is calling us all to in this chapter. Without the aid of the Holy Spirit, we cannot come up with the goods, so to speak. We need His wisdom, as illustrated by Jesus when confronted by the religious people of the day with the woman caught in adultery. However, when we use the wisdom God gives us, we will “raise a harvest of righteousness.”
Challenge
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Who will you see today and how will you handle your contact with them? Will
you bless or depress? It will inevitably be one or the other! Either you
will feed them with reason to rejoice and help build up their faith and
relationship with the Father, or you will send them away empty handed and
with heaviness of heart.
The Bible says, “He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed”.
Toolbox Quotes
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Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue
from evil and your lips from speaking lies. - Psalms 34:12-13
When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.
The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked
is of little value. – Proverbs 10:19-20
“As you get older you may get dentures - but you will always have the same tongue you were born with! There are artificial joints made these days, but no artificial tongues.” - Anon
“When we turn criticism into prayer, we lift the shield of faith
on behalf of the one being attacked, we release the Holy Spirit’s
power to encourage - and we keep the love of God flowing between us when
the devil is out to divide us.” – David Watson
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