You Are The Master Of Your Own Mouth
We have the potential ability to build and to break with what leaves our lips. Our speech is an indicator of the condition of our hearts. What is in our hearts will come out of our mouth. What we say, we sow. What we sow, we reap. What we reap, we harvest. What we harvest we become.
For example, if we speak death over ourselves all the time saying things like, “I am not good enough”, “I am not pretty enough”, “I am not wealthy enough”, etc. we shouldn’t be surprised if other people agree with us. We paint a picture with the words of our mouths. Many of us will say things in passing, not giving it a second thought. Nevertheless, God is always listening. Please understand me, God does not want to see bad or wrong words coming to fulfilment, but He gave us the ability to choose. As a Christian, we have faith. Whatever we say, we believe. And what we believe, we empower with our faith. For example, if we believe that words said in jest have no impact, then we also potentially believe that words spoken in faith have no effect.
Words are very powerful and can hurt us if used in the wrong way. God tells us in His word that “death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof”(Proverbs 18:21).
In other words, we will eat what we speak. The outcome of our future is a by-product of what we speak, whether good or bad. Based upon Scripture, our words can do one of two things for us: it can curse us or bless us.
Proverbs 18:7 (KJV) states, “a fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul”. For better understanding, let’s look at what the NIV says, “The mouths of fools are their ruin; they trap themselves with their lips”.
Let’s examine this scripture:
According to the dictionary, a “fool” can be defined as “a weak-minded person; one who lacks judgment or sense”.
Therefore, when applied to Proverbs 18:7, the words of a fool (a weak-minded person) can bring about their ruin (wreck, destruction, downfall, mess up, collapse and defeat). In other words, our mouth can lead to our destruction and defeat. It can lead to poverty, lack, unhappiness, a failed marriage, low self-esteem and more. When speaking negatively and foolishly, whether playfully or out of anger, what we’re actually doing is cursing the blessings God has for us. Our negative speaking not only affects our life (including circumstances in our life), but it also impacts the lives of others.
It is important to note that when we go through a storm, most of us “run-off” at the mouth. We say things that we don’t mean, and which we don’t want to see manifested in our lives.
Think about it – how carefully would we speak if we actually created what we said? If we knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that when we say “apple” that an apple will appear; how much more carefully would we consider our words?
Now reread the above.
According to James:
James opens up his 3rd chapter with a warning and explains the awesome responsibility of those who are leaders and teachers of God’s word in the Church. In the ancient churches, these men and women were held in high esteem because they were teaching God’s word. But unfortunately, there were certain false teachers and abusive leaders who were teaching false doctrines and were misleading people. James was up against such people. He used three powerful yet familiar analogies to convey how the tongue, a small part of our body, could have devastating effects, not only on an individual but also on the body of Christ particularly.
“A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything or destroy it. Remember, it only takes a spark; to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do just that. By our speech, we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell” (James 3:3-6, The Message Bible).
You see, our tongues have the ability to direct our lives. The question that we need to ask ourselves is simply: “how have I directed it?”
It is interesting for me that we always get different types of people who surround us when we go through a storm. We have people, like the disciples, who just simply sit in the boat: they are not willing to make one move; they just sit and observe. They are the observers. These types of individuals are with us, but they are not for us. When we sink, they are gone.
Then we have the encouragers: those that observe our storm and encourage us to walk on. They are normally close relatives, and they might be faithful towards us just because we share the same surname or family tree. Mothers are great encouragers, but they are also biased, so they quickly feel sympathetic towards their children.
Then we have the generals: these people see our storm, but challenge us to be better than our storm. They will spur us on to take territory on the inside before it manifests towards the outside. Like Jesus, they will rebuke our lack of faith and challenge us to change. These people seem careless in their approach, but it is their deep love that challenges us. We must not be ignorant; Jesus loved Peter enough to rebuke him for his lack of faith. Jesus could have left Peter and just helped him back in the boat. But he wanted Peter to succeed the next time, so a lesson needed to be learnt. As it was with Peter, so too is it with us. There are lessons in life we should only have to learn once. If we go through them twice, it shows a lack of learning on our side.
In truth, we need all three of these types of people. What is important is that we identify who surrounds us. Personally, I will surround myself with more generals, as I prefer to change quicker.
Let’s look at things we must avoid when it comes to our speech. The Bible declares, “In a multitude of words, sin is not lacking” (Proverbs 10:19).
Slander – speaking about another person’s faults (faults that are true) without a good reason. The Bible prohibits this type of language. Most of us will say something in jest not realising that we have just slandered a person. The problem with slandering is that we sow seed that we don’t want to grow. And life has proven itself to go full circle on many occasions.
Defamation – speaking about a person’s faults (faults that are not true). We often like to do this as it makes us feel better.
Bickering – speaking nasty or biting remarks. This often manifests when the heat is on. Normally when the storm gets tough, this form of speech surfaces. Who we are is not made visible when the sun is on our face (good times), but when there is no wind for our sails (adverse times).
Nagging – the constant complaining, scolding or arguing about a fault even if it is true; to find fault constantly (Proverbs 21:9). Have you ever been around people who complain the whole time? They just seem to moan about everything. They find fault with the minutest of things and they just never seem satisfied. Sometimes we use this approach with God; we nag about things we don’t see in our lives, that we think we should see. But in truth, we are often better off than most.
Ego-centrism – continually referring to what I did, what I said, etc. Constantly talking about ME. This is a sign of our time and age. The Scriptures warn us that as the end approaches, we will see more and more of the “I am” generation standing up – people that are totally engulfed in their own happiness. As Christians, we must run away from this type of attitude with everything we have. When we are in the storm, we should remember that it’s not all about us. Others are always watching, like the 11 who sat in the boat watching Peter, waiting to see: How will we respond? What will we do? What will we say? How will we come through this? Maybe a good side note: Ask Holy Spirit to highlight those times you tend to speak about yourself specifically. You will be amazed by how frequently it occurs.
Dominating a conversation to prove a point – most of the time, we that are unaware we are doing this.
Salacious talks/jokes – which has to do with speaking impurely (Ephesians 5:3-4).
Friends, you are the master of your mouth, and you decide what proceeds out of it. You choose what type of seeds you sow. Be wise and don’t compromise. Enjoy the life that you were meant to have.
Prayer:
Father God, thank You for my tongue. Please help me to redeem my speech so that I can be a blessing. Please remind me by Your Spirit every time that I say things that I should not say. Holy Spirit makes me aware of these times, make me sensitive, remind me, please. In Jesus’ Name, I pray. Amen.
This was an extract from my book,
“You are Hupernikos!”
The full version is available in the Store on
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