[Faith-talk] clean it up

[Andrew Edgcumbe]

Clean It Up

By John C. Richards, Jr.
This week's topic: The Power Of The Tongue


 Orbitz ran a commercial years ago that asked one question: "Got a
dirty mouth?” The commercial goes on to make a suggestion: “Clean it
up with Orbitz." Got a dirty mouth? The question may be more
spiritually relevant to understanding the power of the tongue than we
think.


A dirty mouth consists of anything that prevents the rivers of life
from flowing in your life. Jesus reminds us that believers are to be
sources of "rivers of living water" (John 7:38). We are to be sources
of living water for those around us. And that water flows most
powerfully through the words we speak (or in some cases, through what
we don’t speak). What’s interrupting your flow? Clean it up! Cleaning
up your mouth may mean avoiding people who gossip or not becoming a
gossip yourself. Husbands, cleaning up your mouth may mean not getting
frustrated with your wife and refusing to talk to her. Wives, cleaning
up your mouth may mean that you don’t have permission to cop an
attitude when you have a bad day.

There are times when we all need God's Brita system (His Spirit) to
help clean up our mouths? Anger, strife, bitterness and discontentment
continually attempt to filter dirt into our river systems. We let
things slip out of our mouths that we don’t really mean. We begin to
be controlled by our tongue. We lash out without thinking of the
consequences. Until we realize the importance of rivers of life
flowing in our lives, we’ll continue to allow these things to hinder
our walk with God.

Then again, sometimes our tongue speaks without speaking. It speaks
through our actions. Words often attributed to St. Francis Assisi gave
us the following exhortation: “Preach the Gospel at all times; if
necessary use words.” In other words, your actions at times take on a
form of speech. In a very real way, the power of the tongue is
demonstrated by your actions. Have you ever felt like not being
bothered? Have you ever gotten upset about getting unexpected company?
Maybe it’s just me. I don’t like when people show up and interrupt
what I’m doing. I sit there the whole time thinking of the hundred
other things I could be doing, while nodding my head like I’m
listening. I learned one hard lesson.

That moment of perceived inconvenience can mean the world to someone else.

Many of the conversations I have don't happen by chance. They become
God-ordained opportunities to minister words of life to others. There
are moments in our day when God plants us strategically to become
beacons of lights to others. The way you perceive inconvenience speaks
volumes, even if you aren’t speaking.

Start changing your language (both external and internal). Start
changing how you view inconveniences in your life. Can you pinpoint
times in your life when anger or bitterness might have filtered dirt
into your river system? How about times where you missed Jesus and
weren’t in the right location (either physically or spiritually) to
minister to others? Aren’t you ready for the river of life to resume
flowing through you? Evaluate the power of your tongue by both the
words you speak and the actions that speak for you.

Scripture Of The Day: “Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and
cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring
send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening?” - James
3:10-11 (NKJV)