“For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; it is he who will save us.” — Isaiah 33:22 NIV
Hate is a strong word. I tend to avoid using it because it feels so absolute. There’s no wiggle room for love when you use the word hate. Sure, I don’t love waiting in the drive thru of McDonald’s for half an hour when I only ordered a large number 7 with a Diet Coke, but I do love listening to Spotify. In thirty minutes I can listen to maybe ten songs, and those ten streams made the lucky artist approximately $0.04! It’s all about perspective… (I was not lovin’ it)
Verse 13 in Psalm 119 makes two things absolutely clear, “I hate double-minded people, but I love your law.” I put the reference to Isaiah at the top of this post because today’s selection of poetry calls to mind one of the titles we use to address God: the Judge. Lawful diction is used throughout the passage with words like statutes, decrees, and commands. We are reminded that our God is a just one, so imagine the blessings in store for us if we keep on choosing to honor the laws he laid out for our life.
If that doesn’t light a fire under you, then I recommend rereading the end of the selection, which states, “You reject all who stray from your decrees, for their delusions come to nothing. All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross; therefore I love your statutes. My flesh trembles in fear of you; I stand in awe of your laws.” (Psalm 119: 118-120 NIV)
There are two sides on the coin of justice. I don’t always know which side my decisions land on but I know that I don’t want to be rejected by Him, so it’s important to continue studying Scripture and to develop a relationship with the Lord. Then we can stop relying on probability, flipping a coin with every choice, and just rest in his sustaining power.
— Austin Kizer
Reflection Questions
Are there areas of your life that have “wiggle room” for more of the Lord? Consider how you can invite God into those moments and listen for Him.
It’s easy to focus on our wrongdoings, so ponder and celebrate times you felt like you brought honor to God. How are you honoring the Lord on a daily basis?
What “evildoers” do you need to stay away from? How are you keeping up your shield and taking refuge in Him?
I love looking at my children and seeing which traits of theirs are mine and which are my husband’s. My eldest is my miniature, with her blue eyes and wavy brown hair. She also has all my attitude, but also my creative flair. My second has her father’s eyes and coloring and his gentle spirit. And our son…I’m not sure if either of us were ever that mischievous, but I think we can both claim his cleverness.
What a beautiful thing to be recognized as God’s child, though. 1 John 3 starts out with this proclamation. “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” He claims us as his own, and loves when people recognize us as being children of God. And who can recognize us as such? Only those who know the Father as well.
Those who know me well, can likely look at my children and see that they belong to me. They recognize characteristics. But those that don’t know me? It’s not so obvious. And that is why the world does not understand us. If the world doesn’t know God, it won’t recognize God’s traits in us.
This chapter speaks a great deal on sin and how we must turn from it. It speaks on love and hate. But my favorite part of this passage is the promise that it offers, right off the bat. Verse 2 says, “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”
One day, we will be without sin. One day, our relationship to God will be obvious. We will look like his son, Jesus Christ our savior. Everyone will see the resemblance. But until that time, we struggle against sin and imperfection. Verse 9 tells us, “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.”
The world is looking at us, Christians. They are seeing us proclaim to be children of God, followers of Christ, and they are suspicious. If they don’t know God, they won’t recognize our conviction and our faith. But they recognize sin as we all do. And they see when we proclaim to follow God but refuse to turn from our sin. They see when we don’t love. They see when we are spiteful, or petty, or cruel. They see when we say “Love your neighbor” but do not carry out the actions. They see selfishness, pride, and haughtiness. These traits are fully recognizable as worldly traits.
The world may not always understand true, Godly love, but we are to show it anyway so that others can see glimpses of God’s love for them. It is his great desire that we all be his children, and that one day, at Christ’s return, we are all made pure and fully known as Children of God.
Reflection Questions:
What traits do you show that you hope others see as Godly traits? Which areas in your actions and attitude do you feel you need to work on so that others better recognize you as God’s child?
How can you better love those around you? Is there someone in your life right now that frustrates or hurts you that you find difficult to love and be kind towards? Read through verses 21-23 and pray now for some extra strength and grace from God to be more loving toward them, so that they can see God in you.
Praying over you this week, my brothers and sisters. I’m so grateful to be a part of God’s chosen family with you.
Have you ever spoken without thinking and hurt someone as a result? Maybe you have seen this object lesson before, but think of a tube of toothpaste. It is really easy to squeeze the toothpaste out (my kids are happy to do so in excess if they make it to the counter before me). But once it is out, it is incredibly difficult, time consuming, and messy to get that toothpaste back in. Once you speak, you can’t take your words back. You can apologize, but that doesn’t change the fact of what you said.
How quickly do you become angry? I like verse 20 which gives us a reason why we should be slow to become angry – “for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.”
It is easy to get angry, to speak rudely, to interrupt others’ speech. But these things do not help us to live the life God wants us to. It might make us feel better for a second to have an outburst, but usually, we feel worse afterwards and it has done nothing to improve our lives.
But how do we go about avoiding this temptation that is easy to slide into?
“get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.”
In a small group I was a part of in the spring, there was an idea that kept coming up from discussing the sermons – if you aren’t producing good fruit in your life, take a look – are you letting sin have a hold in your life? We have to be constantly on the lookout for where sin seeps in and push it out in order that our fruit can show.
Verse 22 – “Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says[!]” You have to act. It is great to go to church, listen to sermons, classes, read the Bible on your own, etc. All great things. But if all you do is listen, it isn’t going to make a difference. You need to actively push the sin out of your life and pursue the good.
To circle back to the beginning of this section, here is what James writes in verse 26 “If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight reign on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.”
That is strong language! Do you thing about your words having such an impact as to make your religion worthless if you do not control your tongue?
Think about your speech – do you need to work on controlling what you say? Is there speech you need to ask for forgiveness for? Is there speech you need to forgive someone else for? What moral filth do you need to get rid of in your life in order to be able to accept God’s word?
Silence has value. In the words of Thumper “if ya can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all.”
~Stephanie Fletcher
Reflection Questions
Do you thing about your words having such an impact as to make your religion worthless if you do not control your tongue? When might you have questioned someone else’s religion because of what they said? When was the worth of your own religion decreased due to what you said?
Think about your speech – do you need to work on controlling what you say? Is there speech you need to ask for forgiveness for? Is there speech you need to forgive someone else for?
What moral filth do you need to get rid of in your life in order to be able to accept God’s word?
Sometime in the Advent season, my family gathers round and we read out these words. There is a familiarity to this “scary ghost story”; who hasn’t seen, or watched, or read, or heard some version of *A Christmas Carol*. There are dozens, scores, of different versions: stages plays, to ballets, to movies, to the MUPPETS. Seriously, if you haven’t seen a Muppet’s Christmas Carol, what are you doing in the Holiday season?
As I was saying, my family reads these words every year, and I particularly love Dickens’s dry humor and wit, which is somewhat lessened by the theatrical productions of his creation.
But he also makes very clear why he begins his illustrious novel with a death of a character we know nothing about : “The mention of Marley’s Funeral brings me back to the point I started from. There is no doubt that Marley was dead. This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate.”
It is in the exact same vein that the author of 1 Samuel 28 reminds us, “Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in his own town of Ramah.” We already knew that from 25:1, but the author wants to be really sure. Absolutely positive that we get it.
Saul is going to attack the Philistines but the Lord doesn’t answer him. And so Saul, in stupidity and desperation, decides to go to Endor, looking for a witch. The witch, in fear and trepidation, speaks as and for Samuel whom she “brought up”. Up from the dead, speaking to Saul. “Samuel was dead to begin with.” This was a big deal. This was massive. We are expecting something wonderful, or maybe in this case, something awful to come of the story which the author is going to relate.
There are some great questions that come to mind when we read this story (see below), but I want us to pick up on what Samuel says to Saul : “Why do you consult me, now that the Lord has departed from you and become your enemy?”
When Saul drags him up, Samuel says “What do you want me to do about it?” Like I said, I expected wonderful or awful; I did not expect grumpy and sassy.
Sometimes, when we find ourselves in sin, and our lives start going poorly, we think, in stupidity and desperation, “more sin will fix this.” Of course, we never say those exact words. Saul didn’t either, but he also didn’t listen to the commands of the Lord. A little compromise here, a little not following the will of God there. “I didn’t kill the sheep so they could be sacrificed!” God stops listening to his prayers, and so he turns his inward sin of rebellion into the outward sin of divination. He does fulfill the prophecy of Samuel in 1 Samuel 15:23.
We tend to do the same. We tell a lie, and to cover up that lie we have to tell more. (Like Junior Asparagus covering up breaking the Art Bigotti Plate.) Instead of dealing with our lust and desires of the flesh head on, we heap false prophecy onto it and say “God told me we should be together.” We lump pride onto sloth: “Sure I was mentally checked out when I was physically clocked in on the job, but I just need some self care. I deserve it! Treat yo self!”
You might think the words used (pride, sloth, lust) in those examples (“stuff that everybody does”) is a bit extreme. Maybe, but sin is usually insidious. Saul didn’t start off thinking he was going to be cavorting with witches in the middle of the night. David didn’t think that avoiding his duty of going to war would end up with him murdering his companion.
Maybe, through you reading the story, you can begin to see that nothing good comes from heaping one sin on top of another. If you find yourself walking down the road of sin, I know how hard it is to change; still, confess your sins, seek the help of pastors and friends who want the best for you, change your ways. Only in turning from sin to the God who wants the best for us will we be able to seek his forgiveness, and not find him as an enemy, but relate to him as a Father who loves his children. Christ will empower us, advocate for us, give us his spirit and put us in a place where God can change us and bless us.
“And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Every One!”
-Jake Ballard
Reflection Questions
Do you need to confess and stop sinning?: Start off by focusing on the thrust of the devotion; are there any sins in your life that need confession? Where you need help to get out of addictive patterns or habits that are hard to break? Stop the sin as soon as possible so the healing can begin. Only then should we think about the rest of these questions.
Did the magic work?: I have heard some people say the witch was scared *because the magic worked.* As in, she wasn’t expecting a real appearing. But the text indicates that she was scared because she recognized Saul while doing her magic. Saul had killed all the diviners. Why was she scared? The ancient people believed magic worked : The witch in Endor, like the slave girl of Acts 16, make us ask do *we* believe that magic works? Should we be more afraid of participating in the occult and magic than merely saying “that’s make believe”?
Are ghosts real?: Samuel seems to be a ghost. Are ghosts real? What is the Biblical picture of the afterlife? Jesus compared it to sleep, Ecclesiastes talks about the dead knowing nothing and not praising God, but the disciples thought Jesus was a ghost. Does the Bible teach that people can become ghosts? If it doesn’t (and I think it doesn’t), then why did the disciples think people could become ghosts?
Coming *up*?: Where was Samuel coming from? It says Samuel was coming up? If the dead keep on living, we should expect him coming down out of heaven; Samuel seems grumpy, like a man awoken untimely from his sleep. What did the Israelites believe about Sheol?
If you’re like me, that is, *if you are human*, then you have made mistakes. Some of those mistakes are major; not just a small white lie, but sins that harm others and put us out of sync with God. Sometimes, when we make those big sins, we feel like God could never forgive us, could never love us. The words of Samuel to the Israelites from the end of 1 Samuel 12 should give us hope in those moments.
“Do not fear.” “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31), and we should not excuse the sins we commit. The first command given to the Israelites is to not let fear make them flee from the Lord. Instead, we should listen more closely to God than ever. If we recognize our sin, we also recognize that God’s ways are higher than our own, and his ways are better than the ways of the world. If we flee from God, we turn toward things that cannot give us hope, cannot give us a future, cannot redeem us. As Samuel says, they cannot profit or deliver. They are futile.
This all seems very good. “Maybe our sin wasn’t so bad”… we might say, foolishly. God does not ignore your sin because he is ignorant of it, or because he doesn’t care. Instead, “God will not abandon His people *on account of His great name*.” God has chosen a people to be his own possession. In the ancient world, it was Israel, those who were born from the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, children of the promise. Today, he has also chosen a people, also those born according to a promise, but now, it is all who have a faith like Abraham’s, who trust God like Isaac, who believe and wrestle with the Lord like Jacob, those who choose to trust in the final and ultimate descendant of the Patriarchs, Jesus Christ. God has made you a part of his people when you trusted in Jesus. Now, the reality is that we are not merely performing the law, but the law of God has been enacted in the life of Jesus, and by connecting with him, we both enact the law and go beyond it to the truth Christ taught! Christ taught us the truth of God, Christ showed us the life that God wants us to live, Christ died so that we might have life. “Consider the great things the Lord has done for you.” It is now more true than ever. Our sin was nailed to the cross with Christ. It was so terrible it cost Christ everything and he willingly paid it all.
We are called to avoid sin, and we are warned by Christ himself that if we live wicked lives, his words will judge us in the last day. But now, if we do sin, we do not need to fear because we have an advocate who loves us, who gives us a spirit who can change us from the inside out, so we might stop sinning and stop desiring to sin. That is the glory and the power of living in the age of grace, of living in the shadow of the cross.
“As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you.”
And so, this day and every day, may you be blessed as you “Seek, Grow, Love”. Far be it from me to cease praying for you!
-Jake Ballard
Reflection Questions
Do Not Fear: We are commanded “do not fear” again and again in scripture. We are even told that perfect love drives out fear. But the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Moreover, Jesus did not encourage his disciples out of their fear when they were in awe and terrified when the winds and waves obey him. With all those confusing passages in mind, what is the Christian relationship with fear? What should we fear? What should we not fear?
Consider the great things the Lord has done for you: Make a list throughout the day today of all the blessings that God has given you. What are the big, great amazing things, and what are the small, everyday good. Consider them all and see that the Lord is good.
Far be it from me…: Would you take the next few minutes, and pray earnestly, for those who are reading Seek Grow Love. Pray for the blessings of God to be upon them. Amen.
Today’s reading of Exodus 19 & 20 is probably one of the most familiar passages in the whole Bible for it includes the Ten Commandments. It is important to understand the context of these commandments. God entered into a covenantal relationship with Abraham and Abraham’s descendants through Isaac and Jacob and Jacob’s sons who became the twelve tribes of Israel. God promised to bless and provide for his people and in exchange His people promised to be faithful and obedient to God and worship God alone.
After 400 years of slavery, Israel has grown from 12 sons and their immediate family to millions of people. These people, God’s covenant people, will be settling in a land where they will need to live in community. They are no longer slaves. They are now responsible to live in that community in peace and productivity. They need help to know how to live together. God provides His people with the structure of how to live together as God’s people. The Ten Commandments and subsequently nearly 600 additional laws were all designed to help them be healthy and blessed representatives of God to the rest of the world.
God loves all people. We must never falsely believe that God only loves certain people. God considers all human beings His children and loves them all. God wants to be in a right relationship with all of his children; however, many are disobedient and have no willingness to be in a relationship with God and many deny that God even exists.
So God needed to start with one group of people and prepare them to be a special, chosen people who would bring the knowledge of God to others. Exodus 19:5-6 says, “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’
Israel was to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. A priest is one who helps connect people and God. God would go on to designate priests in Israel to help the people connect with God, but His expectation for Israel was that the whole nation serve as priests to help other nations connect with God. Because the whole nation was being set apart by God to be priests for the world, they needed to live holy or set apart lives. There were behavioral expectations that they were to follow. They had to be exclusively loyal to God, they could not murder, steal, lie, cheat, they were to be respectful and honoring of parents and not misuse God’s name.
Now we are completing what God began in Israel. Through Christ we have entered into a covenant with God. We are now the covenant people, we are called to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. That is the Church’s role. And God expects us to live lives of holiness as we are set apart to serve God. As you read through the many laws in the Old Testament, recognize that some applied very narrowly to the Nation of Israel and do not necessarily apply to us. Dietary laws and sanitary laws were important in Israel at the time they were given but are no longer applicable. However, some of the laws which pertain to morality have been reaffirmed by Jesus Christ for the Church. In other words, as Christians we are free to eat pork and worship on Sundays, but we are not free to practice polygamy or murder.
God is truly a God of grace and mercy, but God is also a God who hates sin and punishes sin. In this way we are still to live in fear of the Lord: Exodus 20:20 “the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”
Jeff Fletcher
(originally posted Feb 5, 2020 for SeekGrowLove)
Reflection Questions
Looking at each one of the Ten Commandments, what can you learn about God? Why do you think He included each one in this list?
Which of these commandments do you need to look at more closely in your own life? What will help you abide by them better?
Looking at Matthew 23, the scribes and Pharisees Jesus was speaking about had worked hard at following the Ten (and additional commandments). But Jesus was not pleased. What were their problems? How can you avoid these problems?
Genesis 35 begins with God telling Jacob to go to Bethel and make an altar there to “the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” God is reminding Jacob of what He has done for him in the past. Do you remember what Rachel did a few chapters back? She stole her father’s idols! Jacob’s household STILL has these foreign gods in their possession. The very first commandment in the Ten Commandments (which will be) given to Moses is “You shall have no other gods before me”. What have Jacob’s people done? They have sinned!
I find this next part so interesting. In verses 2 and 3 Jacob gives instructions to his people. He says “put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments.” This is repentance. Did Jacob say that they could keep the idols in their spare room and ignore them? NO. They took everything that was an idol or connected to paganism and buried them in the ground. They cast the items of sin out of their midst. Then, after turning away, they purified themselves and changed their clothes.
One commentary makes an interesting point about the garments. There are multiple places in scripture where garments symbolize the character of people. How interesting is it that Jacob told his people to change their garments, almost like a physical way to visualize the heart change of repentance? This gives even more depth to the verses that say things like “put on Christ” or “put on the new self”. WOW! Let’s take a second to thank the Lord for the true gift of Jesus and what that means for our personal lives. The Old Testament is filled with people making altars to God for numerous things. We don’t have to do that anymore because Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice. Now, our lives are an offering to God and Christ is the one to cover all of our sins. How amazing is that?
Okay, back to Jacob. What do you notice about God in this chapter? I notice how gracious God is. These people had taken false gods! There was no reason why they deserved to have God on their side. But He is still faithful to them! He guides them, protects them, and then blesses them by giving Jacob an incredible promise at the end of the chapter.
How amazing it is to have a God that will forgive us. I want this story to prompt us today to think about any areas in our lives where we are holding on to sin. If we are in Christ, we are a new creation, and although that doesn’t mean we are perfect yet, it does mean that we are continually being transformed. Ephesians 4 says, “to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” What does that look like in your life? Think about how you can “put on the new self” today.
-Katelyn Salyers
Reflection Questions
What will it look like to take off your old self? What do you need to get out of your house, your heart, your life? Are you hiding any foreign gods?
What will it look like to put on your new self today? How can you put on a clean set of clothes?
It seems as though fresh strawberries go bad so quickly. You get a package at the grocery and then sometimes by the next day they already start to expire. Maybe that morning you are in a rush when you see that one moldy spot. You know it’s not good, but you will get rid of that bad strawberry later. But, then you forget and by the time you check back in on them, half the package is moldy. And worse yet, this isn’t the first batch you have lost in such a manner. You knew better from previous experiences and yet you managed to find yourself in the same exact trouble.
This happened to me this week. I was reminded of these bad strawberries when reading Ezekiel 22. Time and time again, we see the Israelites in the hot seat after continuous rebellion against God. They should know better from previous experience, but they do not use that knowledge to do better.
I think it is interesting in verses 6-13 God declares the vile things that Israel had within itself. These things were not all immediately there. Rather, I imagine the Israelites allowed one bad thing in at a time until eventually almost the whole batch became rotten. Just as we do not always discard that moldy strawberry when we should, the Israelites did not turn to God and rid themselves of the sin when they noticed it. Rather they turned their heads and allowed more to sneak in and take hold.
In doing these terrible things, they forgot God. They turned their heads from Him and, to stay with the strawberry analogy, allowed the mold to consume them. These things that they did hurt one another and were against the very principles of their creator. These were against the very principles of loving God with all our heart, soul and mind and loving our neighbors as ourselves.
So with that I want to challenge you and myself with the following question. Are there any moldy strawberries in our life right now that we are ignoring? If so, let us, with God’s help, throw that strawberry out so that the mold from it will not spread further in our heart.
-Hannah Deane
Reflection Questions
Just like Hannah asked, “Are there any moldy strawberries in our life right now that we are ignoring? If so, let us, with God’s help, throw that strawberry out so that the mold from it will not spread further in our heart.”
When have you seen the progression of sin overpower and block out a desire to serve and follow God?
(I told Andy he was in charge this week so yes, he could have some days discussing various chapters from James that don’t line up precisely with the reading plan in order to have some two-part devotions. So, today’s devotion actually comes from James 3).
Have you ever hurt someone with your words? Of course, we all have. That inability to hold your tongue. The control of the tongue has both negative and positive aspects. It involves the ability to restrain the tongue in silence. But it also means being able to control it in gracious speech when that is required.
Sanctification in any area of our lives always expresses both sides. A putting off and a putting on. Speech and silence, appropriately expressed, are together the mark of the mature (compare with one of the clearest illustrations of this in Colossians 3:1–17). Nor is this James’s first reference to speech. He had already said that for a professing believer to fail to bridle the tongue is to be guilty of self-deception (1:22–25) and the hallmark of a person whose religion is worthless (1:26). He uses some imagery to explain just how powerful this tongue is. In James 3:3–5, James uses two illustrations. The tongue is like the bit in the mouth of a horse. This tiny appliance controls the enormous power and energy of the horse and is used to give it direction. James may well have been familiar with this picture from common experience in daily life. He had seen powerful Roman military horses and had probably heard stories of chariot races. The point, however, is the power and influence concentrated in one small object. That’s how it is with the tongue.
The tongue is also like the rudder in a boat. Large ships were not unknown in the ancient world. The ship that originally was to transport Paul across the Mediterranean en route to Rome held 276 people (Acts 27:37). We know that a large ship like the Isis could carry one thousand people. Yet such a big and heavy vessel was directed simply by a turn of the rudder!
Why does James speak this way? Of course, divine inspiration but also of both biblical knowledge and personal experience. The tongue as I’ve heard it said “carries into the world the breath that issues from the heart”.
We do not realize how powerful for evil the tongue is because we are so used to its polluting influence.
Jesus says the tongue projects the thoughts and intentions of the heart. It is from within, “out of the heart,” that the mouth speaks (compare with Matthew 12:34; 15:18–19). But like the smoker, so accustomed to the odor, the atmosphere in which they live, the person with polluted speech has little or no sense of it — no sense that they exhale bad breath every time they speak.
But with all of this said, James is forced into a confession. Nobody — Jesus excepted — has succeeded in mastering the tongue! Our only hope as we pursue the discipline of self that leads to mastery of the tongue is that we belong to Christ and that we are being made increasingly like him. But this battle for “vocal holiness” is a long-running one, and it needs to be waged incessantly, daily, hourly. Are we fighting it? So we get it. We don’t say mean things, we think about what we say. We use judgment with our words. Many people miss one important element in taming the tongue and that is adding Godly speech to our vocabulary. This is a life-changing, mind-altering, and wonderfully encouraging side.
Which we will get into tomorrow. 🙂
-Andy Cisneros
Reflection Questions
Knowing what you now know about the tongue from James 3, what warnings and instruction on the words you say and don’t say can you apply to what James has to say in James 2?
Which do you find harder – silence when silence is most appropriate or gracious speech when gracious speech is most important? Think of an example of when you should have been silent – but you weren’t. And, an example of when you could have used gracious speech – but you didn’t. How could the situation or relationship have been altered by better control of your tongue? How might your tongue be used now to help mend these relationships?
Are there any specific words/phrases that your speech would be better without?
In what situations do you find it difficult to control your tongue? What could you do next time you are in that situation to demonstrate that you want to become more and more Christ-like?
There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.– Mark 10:14 (ESV)
“Goodness Gracious!” “Jiminy!” “Good Golly!” And, occasionally, “Uffda”. Laugh if you want, but these are actually phrases that come out of my mouth when surprised or startled. I have many issues and sins that I struggle with in my life (just ask my family), but bad language isn’t one of them. Why not? Likely because I don’t put that into my mind. It bothers me to watch movies with a lot of bad language and I don’t surround myself with people who talk that way (at least they don’t in front of me).
In Mark 7:14-15 we read: And he [Jesus] called the people to him again and said to them,“Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” And Mark 7:20-23 gets more specific: And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
There are two parts of this that need to be addressed. First, what does it mean to defile yourself? Here are some definitions I found for defile: to spoil; to make dirty; to corrupt; to take away the purity, honor, or goodness of. Second, for something to come out, it must be in, right? So, how does that list of what comes out of the heart get into the heart?
Think of the song O Be Careful Little Eyes.
O be careful little eyes what you see O be careful little eyes what you see For the Father up above Is looking down in love So, be careful little eyes what you see
The other verses are O be careful little ears what you hear, little tongue what you say, hands what you do, feet where you go, heart whom you trust, and mind what you think. All of these put ideas/thoughts into our minds. Once there, we use our minds to decide what to do with the thought. Are we going to take it captive and make it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:50)? Are we going to let it conform us to the world or transform us to be renewed to know God’s will (Romans 12:2)?
Other verses can give us more clarity and direction.
1 Corinthians 15:33: Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” Or, “corrupts good character” (NIV)
Psalm 119:11: I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
What you put in (read, watch, listen to, etc.) and who you surround yourself with (face-to-face, groups online, etc.) WILL come out. God goes so far as to warn us not to be deceived about such things. Luke 6:45 says, “For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” And it’s not just the words from our mouths. It’s our actions, inactions, attitudes, etc. Be aware that what comes out reveals our hearts – as clean or unclean. The choice is up to us.
Amy Blanchard
Reflection Questions
What are you putting into your mind?
What comes out of you – your actions, words, and attitudes? What do they reflect is in your heart?
God reveals himself through His Son, Jesus. Jesus gives us a list of evil things that defile us. What does this list reveal about God’s character to you?
Seek Grow Love 