Believer part 6

The last few weeks, we have been talking about some of the most basic, and most important, traits of a believer.

Christ’s single-mindedness and His submission to God’s will; Joseph and his dedication to God’s will and his dedication to the things that God put in his life; the lifestyle of faith that Job led; the compassion for people that Christ displayed, etc.

If we are to truly become that person who walks with Christ, there are areas that we must either add to or change in our lives.

Tonight as we continue to dig down into this believer idea, we are going to be talking about the speech of the believer and how the believer is to be truthful and only speak things that build up others.

In Daniel 6:1-24, we find Daniel with an extremely high position in the newly formed Medo-Persian empire.

He had been appointed as a governor over his region so that the king "would suffer no loss", meaning so that the king would not miss any tax money that he was due.

Daniel had so distinguished himself in the eyes of Darius that he had planned to make Daniel the chief governor of the realm.

That's when the other governors got jealous and began to plan a way to take Daniel down.

These governors convinced the king to establish a royal statute that for thirty days any prayers offered to anyone but the king would be thrown in a den of lions.

And of course the king, being full of himself, decides that this is a good idea and signs it into law.

According to the law, once a royal decree had been issued it could not be revoked, even by the king.

So Daniel is caught by these governors continuing to do what he had been accustomed to since his youth, praying to the One true God.

The king is then forced to send Daniel to the lion's den as according to the newly created law.

And, if you read the Scripture, you will find out how God saved Daniel from the lions.

Daniel could have lied.

He could have told King Darius that these men were making this up and proved his loyalty by bowing to the king.

The king would then have a way to deliver Daniel, and nobody gets hurt.

Nobody would be physically hurt, but Daniel’s witness would be spiritually damaged.

Apparently, the king viewed Daniel as an honorable man; a man who was faithful to his God and the kingdom.

If Daniel would have compromised his faith by lying, he would have missed out on God’s blessing as well as damaging his faith.

Just as Daniel was honorable in what he said, we must also be honorable in how we speak if we are to be a true believer.

James 3:3-12
Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body.  Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires.  Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles!  And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.  For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind.  But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.  With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God.  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?  Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs?  Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.

We can do many things with our bodies.

We can hit, manipulate, tear down, etc; and yet of all the damage that can be done by our bodies, the damage the tongue makes is always the most destructive.

The words you use and the way you use them can do far more than physical damage.

No other thing can cause more pain than the tongue.

Think about it in your own life, how much pain have someone else’s words caused you?

James says that this one little part of our body can defile our whole self.

We must be careful how we use our words.

Christ desires a believer to be pure in speech.

That not only includes eliminating curse words from your life, but gossip, put-downs, or anything that does not build up a person.

We should be the ones who are honoring and encouraging people with the way we speak.

That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t take a stand for Christ when necessary, but as we stand for Christ we shouldn’t be destroying others.

Ephesians 4:29
Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.

Every word that comes out of the believers’ mouth should be helpful.

Helpful to encourage, love, honor, and sometimes even to correct in a loving manner.

Everything you say needs to be wholesome; an easy thing to say but not such an easy thing to practice.

So, how do you change the way you speak so that your words are wholesome?

Below are some tips to help you use wholesome speech:

Tips for Having/Using Wholesome Speech
1. Set up a foul word system (1 cent for curse words; 5 cents for gossip; etc.).
2. Accountability.
3. Find words you can use to replace unwholesome words.
4. Exclude yourself from the dirty jokes/gossip.

Turn your life over to God and use your words in a SAFE manner.

Are you a true believer yet?