Can We Control Our Tongue?

Can We Control Our Tongue?

1 Peter 3:10-12 “He that would love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking guile; let him turn away from evil and do right; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those that do evil.”

I feel like today’s verse is a good lesson for everyone. Yesterday I was talking to a friend who is not really sure what she believes about faith. She has had a pretty traumatic history with faith, and so she is just finding her way back. Anyway, she asked what verse I was using yesterday for my podcast, and when I shared it with her, she said, “The Bible really does have some pretty good life lessons in it.” I thought this was funny because it is so true and yet I don’t think most of us think, “I should check what that Bible says about that,” when we are trying to decide what to do. There is so much wisdom and practical knowledge in the Bible.

Today’s verse is good because who wouldn’t want to love life and see good days? I think we can all agree those would be good things. So, let’s see what Peter has to say about how we can love life and see good days. First, he says to keep our tongues from evil and our lips from speaking guile—man, that right there. If we could just do that, I think all of our lives would be improved greatly. I wish my kids could hear this. I wish they could see how much better their lives could be if they talked better in general but also if they didn’t talk about others. They think that they are just venting about other people, but it puts them in a bad mood and affects their lives, too.

When we take the time to speak evil about people, then that puts our mind on evil. If we are constantly judging others, then that is where our mind will go to first. If we are constantly saying bad things about others, then those bad things are where our mind is going to focus. Soon, all you start to see is the bad in everyone around you. Imagine if we could control what we say. Proverbs 18:21a says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” Did you know your words were that important? Our words affect people far longer than we think they will. Do you remember that old saying we heard when we were growing up, “Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” It is so misleading. Sometimes names can hurt more than any stick or stone could. If we are hit with a stick or stone, the wound will heal. Sometimes the wounds from things said to us when we are young never heal.

Our words have the power to change someone’s life. I still remember that my 8th-grade teacher told my mom I should be a lawyer because when doing a group project, I had a way of getting people to do what I wanted and making them think it was their idea. I still remember every teacher that was kind and built me up. I still remember some very unkind things that kids said to me when I was younger. If you believe in someone and you tell them how great they are, they will rise to the occasion. Likewise, if you don’t believe in them and you tear them down with your words or even your actions, they will live down to those expectations too.

We have to do better in this area. We have to stop and think before we say things. We, as a whole society, have to do better about what we are saying to people and how we are treating them. We will not change society with our words. The way that we have an impact on society is by living our life in a way that those around us notice the change and the grace God gives us for changing, and they decide they want that too. We need to lead by example, and we need to lead with love first and everything else second. If you take anything from this episode today, I hope it is that our words are so important, and we need to really think about what we are going to say and how it will affect the other person.

Next, it says, “Let him turn away from evil and do right; let him seek peace and pursue it.” We can probably all say that we know if we want to love life, we should turn from evil and do the right thing. However, in this world, it can be hard to know what the right thing is. Also, the world makes is seem like it is so great to do the wrong thing. If we listen to the world, all we hear is that if we want to love life, we need to do what we want to do. We need to do what makes us happy. We don’t need to be concerned about others; we just need to be concerned with our own happiness. It’s ok to have an affair if that is what makes you happy. It is ok to leave your family to pursue your dreams. The world is contrary to so many things the Lord is calling us to.

We need to turn away from evil and do what is right. If we aren’t sure what this is, we need to pray about it. We can ask the Lord to show us if there is any evil in our lives, and then we can work to change it. We can ask the Lord what he wants us to do to replace the evil in our lives. The second half of that line said we should seek peace and pursue it. How many of us would love more peace in our lives? How would you like your house to be filled with peace? Did you know you have the power to impart peace to others? Well, it’s not your power but the power of the Holy Spirit living inside you. You can pass peace onto others. You can walk into a house or even into a situation and ask the Lord to bring peace. You can ask the Holy Spirit to impart peace into that situation, or that home, or into that workplace. When Jesus sent the apostles out to go on a mission, He told them in Luke 10:5, “Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’” You can do the same.

The last part of this verse says, “For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those that do evil.” That right there is enough for many of us to hear and want to change our ways. Do we want the Lord’s face to be turned away from us? Or do we want His eyes upon us and His ears open to our prayers? I bet we all know plenty of people who are sick. It seems like everyone is sick these days. I am constantly getting prayer requests from loved ones who are not doing so well or who have loved ones who are really struggling. I don’t know about you, but I can’t afford to have the Lord’s face turned against me right now. I need Him to hear my prayers. I need His eyes to be upon me so He can see how much I need Him. Therefore, I will do my best to be righteous and to turn away from evil and turn towards God. How about you?

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless each person listening to this episode today. Lord, you are the almighty one, and we need you. We want you to hear our prayers, and we want you not to turn your face against us. Lord, if there is any evil in our life, please help us change that. Please help us control our tongues so we are not hurting other people and so we are not spreading more evil around the world. Help us to really understand how much our words matter. We love you, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name, Amen!!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. The theme or mentoring tonight is The Power of Praying without Ceasing and how that is even possible. If you want to join me on Zoom for mentoring tonight, you can sign up on my website, walkboldlywithjesus.com, or CLICK HERE. Or, you can reach out on social media.I look forward to bringing you a witness tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

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