Your Words Will Condemn You.

Before we get to today’s article, I just want to mention that am writing from the perspective of a man that has experienced many of the challenges of which I write…. and those spiritual battles continue daily. The articles are implications of what it means to obey the commandment to raise your children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. They require some reflection and are particularly for Christians who, as Peter would say, are diligently seeking to confirm their calling and are making every effort to supplement their faith. Said more succinctly, serious Christians. If you know other believers who desire to walk more faithfully with the Lord, please forward an article to them and tell them to sign up for future articles. Thanks so much!

Your Words Will Condemn You.

One part of the Christian life that many Christians are concerned about is assurance. That is, are they confident that they are truly saved believers. Interestingly, some Christians think about it all the time while other Christians never give it a thought.

The most common “go to” verses in the Bible to help answer the question of assurance are found in 1 John where John gives several marks of the true Christian and draws a contrast between those who walk in the darkness and those who walk in the light.

For example, he says in chapter 2, verses 3-6, “And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”

And in chapter 2:9, “Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness”.

Also, in chapter 2:15, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him”.

However, I found another means of self-examination that I believe would be very helpful and it is from the mouth of Jesus as recorded in Matthew 12:33-37-

Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. 36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Simply put, our words reveal our heart and the condition of the heart reveals whether or not we have a relationship with the Lord.

The apostle James, speaking of how we speak in James 3:6, “ And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness”. And in verse 10, he writes, “From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water”.

This passage is also telling us about the heart and effectively gives us a picture that the person who says they are a Christian cannot speak like a person who is not walking in the light any more than a salt pond can produce fresh water. We are not talking about any actions here; it is our words that reveal our heart and whether or not we are walking with the Lord. So, let’s compare some common words or responses people use in their everyday lives to various situations and see if they are words representing a good treasure in the heart or an evil treasure.

WORDS THAT TELL HOW YOU THINK ABOUT YOURSELF.

The non-Christian: “I am becoming a better person because what I have learned about myself”.

Christian: “I am learning to trust Christ more and am growing because of His work in me”.

The non-Christian: “I’m starting to believe more in myself”.

Christian: “I know I can’t trust my own thoughts, but I am putting more trust in the Lord to guide me”.

The non-Christian: “I need to think more about my happiness and not think about what others think about me”.

Christian: “My happiness is found in obeying Christ and looking to serve others”.

The non-Christian: “I do that (bad thing) because of a trauma I experienced in the past”.

The Christian: “I do that (bad) thing because I am weak and gave in to a self-centered attitude”.

WORDS ABOUT GOALS AND MONEY.

The non-Christian: “I’m going to open a business, create wealth, and retire by the time I am 40”.

The Christian: “I have goals, but nothing will happen unless the Lord wills it to happen”.

The non-Christian: “What do you think is the minimum I have to give”?

The Christian: “How much can we give?”

The non-Christian: “Here is how I am investing my money”.

The Christian: “Everything I have belongs to God and I am just a steward. Lord help me to be wise with your money”.

WORDS THAT REFLECT YOUR VIEW OF THE WORLD.

The non-Christian: “We must save the planet”!

The Christian: “The Lord has promised to sustain the world and provide for our needs. As stewards of everything that is His, we will try to be wise caretakers”.

The non-Christian: “People are horrible! This world is so frustrating”.

The Christian: “We live in a fallen world, so I expect people to behave sinfully. It’s not what I want but the Lord is at work through it”.

The non-Christian: “My luck is down”. “Bad things come in threes”. “Knock on wood”. “I have a bad feeling about this”.

The Christian: “God has sent something into my life to challenge and grow me. I may not understand why, but I trust Him”.

The non-Christian: Responding gleefully to good fortune such as a promotion at work, an award, or an inheritance, he gives no glory to God but says, “Well, I worked really hard for it.”

The Christian: “Thanks be to God. He has chosen to be gracious to me”.

The non-Christian: Seeing the beauty and wonder of the stars or a fabulous sunset, he says, “amazing, isn’t it”?

The Christian: “The heavens declare the glory of God”!

WORDS THAT REFLECT HOW WE DEAL WITH PEOPLE

The non-Christian: Enjoys participating in gossip, grumbling, and backbiting.

The Christian: Often tempted to gossip and grumble but manages to stay quiet because he is convicted by the Spirit that it is sinful to do those things.

The non-Christian: “ I know if that person is not showing up at work, it must be because they have a drinking problem or is just lazy and unreliable.”

The Christian: “That person certainly has some kind of a problem, but I want to be careful to not draw conclusions that I really know nothing about.”

The non-Christian: “Look, sometimes you just have to lie to get ahead. Everybody does it!”

The Christian: “The Lord is the one who raises people up and puts them down. I’ll wait to see what He does.”

The non-Christian: “If he gets elected, we are doomed!”

The Christian: “We are called on to submit to our leaders and trust God.”

OK, so I think that’s probably more examples than we needed, but the point is all of these words or responses can be indications of how closely a person is walking with God. The person who is walking close with God has God at the front of their mind, filters everything in life through that grid, and manifests the closeness of his walk through his words. The person who is not walking closely with God (or not walking at all) has God in the back of their mind and references Him as a resource when needed. Essentially, God is absent from his words because God is absent from his thinking.

A couple of more things to note. First, prayer consists of words to God and is a critical sign of a person walking in the light or in the darkness. It could probably be said that a person who never prays, cannot know God.

Secondly, my list of examples comparing the Christian and non-Christian’s words, are not absolutely conclusive, but are only indicators. Just as we must do with the tests given to us in 1 John, they need to be applied and observed as patterns in a person’s life because no Christian meets the perfect standard that the Lord requires. Put another way, all Christians falter as they continue to obey Christ and walk in the light.

And finally, you may say, nobody talks like the sample Christian responses that you have listed above. And to that I say, why not? We should. We should be including God’s name in our speech whenever appropriate and if you are not doing this, you should begin the retraining of your mind with God’s help. And what about our children? They will most certainly learn from their parents and to the degree God is absent from the parent’s speech, He will be absent from the speech of the children. But let’s be clear, we are not talking about learning to speak like a Christian for the sake of sounding like a Christian. No, we are really talking about what Paul writes in Romans 12 when he says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.” Conforming our minds to God’s words will lead to speech that is markedly different from the world.

Examine yourself. Do your words justify you or condemn you? Are there any areas of your thoughts and speech where you are not giving God the glory or failing to weave His word into every part of you? Are you striving in this way to love Him with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength? Think deeply about it.

I hope this was helpful and I am grateful for you listening in. You can write to me at Mike@cherishephesians64.com

THIS WEEK’S SPOTLIGHT IS A CHARLES SPURGEON SERMON. CLICK HERE: https://youtu.be/u9Vup4HEA3g