The TongueSample

The Tongue

by

Rocky Fleming

Day Two: From the Heart

Several years ago I had to speak truth to a Christian friend who seemed to miss the importance of his words. He was angry and upset, and this anger worked its way to his words and then to the ears of many people. His acid words did little to hurt the people he spoke of, but he hurt his witness big time, and as a result, he hurt himself. He had raging emotions because of what he felt were unjustified wrongs done against him, and before he could yoke those emotions to Christ, he let them fly. If this sounds familiar, believe me, we all have had this challenge. The question is, what do we do when it happens?

I asked this man if he remembered what Jesus said about how our words reveal the condition of our heart. I then asked him, “What do the words you are speaking now reveal about your heart?” To his credit, it caused him to pause and think more clearly about what was happening deep within him. He could see that his words revealed pride, anger, and a sense of self-pity and that he deserved better. While this is understandable from a “normal” point of view, as a disciple of Christ, we need to understand that Jesus said we would be treated wrongly, taken advantage of, possibly persecuted, and that we will face many challenges with things that are unfair. 

Therefore, the truth is that as a disciple of Christ we have to do things the way Jesus would. How so? When these hurts come our way, Jesus said that we are to bless those who persecute us, turn the other cheek to those who strike us, pray for our leaders even though we do not agree with them, and show by our words and deeds that we serve the God of love and peace. We are to be peacemakers, and this peace must begin in our hearts before words of peace can be spoken in times of conflict. If our right of self-justification is more important to us than our obedience to Christ and representing His interests, then we are not representing Christ as His disciple.

To change this pattern we must have a heart change. This change will not come about by our willpower or by taking charge of our behavior. It is changed by the love of Christ, where He shows us how to find peace within before spoken words leave us. Therefore, if you are having some failures in this area of your life, go to that place of close proximity with Him, and He will not only give you the peace within that is needed, He will also give you words that will be a blessing when they escape you.