Saturday, June 21, 2008

War of Words: Who's In Charge Here?!

"Many of the problems we experience when talking with one another emerge from the fact that we have usurped the authority of God: We say what we want to say, when and how we want to say it. We speak as if we are in charge and as if we have the right to use words to advance our purpose, and to achieve what would make us happy. We speak as if we were God rather than his creatures, called to submit to his authority in every idle word we speak."
(Paul David Tripp, War of Words, Chapter 2, pgs. 20-21)

Read 1st Chapter, God Speaks

Matthew 12:36
I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless [idle] word they speak.

2 Corinthians 10:5b
Take every thought captive to obey Christ.

James 3:3-12
If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

1 Comments:

At 6/23/2008 9:59 AM, Blogger M. R. Burgos said...

I heard a preacher say once that when a hostile situation arises between a few people, the root cause is selfishness and the verbalization of pride. As I have examined my own life, I have realized that I am a very selfish person. Fortunatley santification is a process.

 

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