No Man Can Tame the Tongue: So Why Does James Tell Us To?

Wes McAdams: After a sermon is over, have you ever wanted to make a comment, ask a question, or listen to the preacher say more about a particular idea? If so, this podcast is for you. My name is Wes McAdams, and I'll be sitting down with one of my fellow McDermott Road ministers to discuss comments, questions, and thoughts that have come up after the sermon is over. Welcome to P.S., the Post-Sermon Podcast.

Matt Mead: Thank you so much for joining us again on the PS podcast this week as we continue in our series on James, looking at the idea of talk as cheap, and in particular this week, looking at the effect of our words, of the way that the tongue affects our lives. Wes, thank you for your lesson on Sunday. folks weren't able to be with us, do you mind kind of giving them a quick recap of of this week's lesson?

Wes McAdams: Sure. Yeah. We talked about talking out of both sides of our mouth about how we use our mouth to both, as James says, both bless the Lord and also curse people who are made in the likeness of God and the problem that that that that presents. And we're all guilty of this. And that's James's whole point. James isn't saying some people are like this. He's saying you've all done this. And he really is rebuking them, I think, for their their pride, their arrogance, their boasting, because they they talk as if they're very religious, they talk as if they're very spiritual, very filled with faith, very, very much loving and keeping the the law and the commandments that they were given. But he says the fact that you use your mouth to bless God and curse people at the same time with the same mouth, it proves. That you're not as faithful as you say you are, you're not as religious as you say you are. In fact, he will say that no man can tame the tongue, which of course brings up this question of like, if you can't do that, then why why are you telling us to do it? And and I think the point is that that God does it, that the Holy Spirit does it, that when we have the wisdom from above, then we can, our our tongue can be tamed. We can't tame our tongue, but God can, which brings us to the conclusion of yesterday's sermon was that. The indication, the test of our relationship with God isn't just about what we say about God. It's what we say about people, in particular the people that we don't like very much. And the way we talk about those kind of people that we don't like very much is a good test of where we stand with God and whether or not we're allowing the Holy Spirit to transform our lives so that we reflect the wisdom that is from above.

Matt Mead: So much we could talk about there. This could be a a very long podcast for sure, but I wanted to start with the way you started on Sunday of in your intro, and and you don't do this every week. I know that it's a part of your process of you know making sure that people realize that these are messages that you're absorbing as well. These are things that you know you're wanting to be shaped by along with the congregation. but you made it intentional to point that out at the beginning of this sermon. Why I am

Wes McAdams: Such a great question. Yeah, I I I think that it's important to remind people, especially when something is very heavy and hard and convicting and it applies to everyone, that that I'm not approaching this as if I'm right and you're wrong, I'm the teacher, you're the student. I want to approach this as We are fellow students. We are learning this together. I want to learn to be more like Jesus. And I want you to join me on that journey. And that's always the case. And I hope that it always comes across that way. But sometimes I want to say that explicitly that I am not scolding you. I am simply looking at the text and saying, what does this say to all of us who are trying to be religious people, who are trying to be people of faith? What does this say to all of us? And how does it convict us? And how does it help shape us into More of the people that we are supposed to be. And I really, I know that a lot of us grew up hearing or grew up being around preachers and teachers who were very much wagging their fingers at everybody else, or at least it felt that way, that I don't want to come across that way. I want to come across as we are all on this journey together. And I'm inviting you to join me as I, as I take my discipline from the Lord and from this book. I I want you to join me on that journey rather than trying to approach it as if I've got this figured out and I need to teach you what what I have figured out.

Matt Mead: It's a very beautiful approach and and something that I know is appreciated and so thank you for bringing that out. When you think about, you know, this particular section and and with James in general, he uses a lot of, you know, word pictures, some pretty vivid word pictures. When you begin to approach a text How do you think about it like with this one in particular? We've got the the bit in the horse's mouth, we've got the ship's rudder, we've got the spark that sets a forest on fire. Do you try to be like, he's just saying three 'cause some might apply to these people and some might apply to these people, or do you try to look at each one and h how do you go about bringing that into your sermon process?

Wes McAdams: That's a great question. And and I don't know that I've ever stopped and thought about it, you know, like that. But but I think that what I try to do is I try to keep in mind the whole big picture. And I think sometimes when it comes to metaphors and illustrations that the biblical authors use, we get very caught up in the metaphor itself, in the illustration itself, and we forget what is the purpose that that illustration is serving. And that needs to be our question. So when he is talking about the bit and when he's talking about the rudder, when he's talking about the spark. All of this is serving the purpose of illustrating that the the mouth, the tongue, is a very small part of the body, but yet it its impact is disproportionate to its size. And and relative to its size, there is nothing like the mouth. The mouth has all kinds of impact, in particular, all kinds of negative impact. And he's illustrating that by saying, Think about the rudder on a ship. Think about the spark that sets a whole forest on fire. Think about the bit in the mouth of a horse. And we could, you know, drill down on those illustrations, or we could say, well, what do all of these things have in common? And I think that's where the truth is found and the helpfulness is found in the illustration, is seeing the overlap between these things and saying, how are these illustrations serving this bigger purpose that James is driving at, not just in this text, but in the entire letter.

Matt Mead: Yeah, so so with you know, how it connects to the letter, you know, we've already talked about faith and works, we've already talked about this idea of this practical wisdom that's being brought here and and now we're kind of focusing more on our words and you brought out several things. Speaking about that, you brought out dishonesty, you brought out offending somebody, you know, calling them a name, you brought out our tone, and you brought out our disposition, you know, behind our words. You know, those are four kind of different things but also very connected. Do you think that that there is a particular, you know, underlying thing that we can work on that affects all four, or do you think that there is something that is unique to each of those that he's hoping that that we'll work on with the spirit, obviously drawing near to the spirit?

Wes McAdams: Well, I think that I think that's the key right there is drawing near to the spirit. I think that's how we that's the how we work on these things. I think sometimes when we just focus on I need to work on not talking bad about people, that yes, that's true, but sometimes that's just the symptom of the problem. The problem is my relationship with God. Like so sometimes the the best way that I can start talking. Better about people and to people and stop talking poorly about people and to people is for me to spend more time in worship or more time meditating on the scriptures or more time thinking about Jesus or more time being taught by people by doing what James says and being quick to listen and slow to speak and slow to become angry and receiving the implanted word which is able to save my soul. Like maybe that's the real issue. And sometimes we might Do some pretty good work at behavior modification and change our behavior. And and really that doesn't really get at the real root issue. And the root issue is my relationship with God. And when my relationship with God is what it's supposed to be, and there is real work there to be done. And when that work is done, then as almost a byproduct, the the way I talk to people and about people changes. And I become convicted. I mean, this happened to me yesterday as I was driving home from worship. We were talking about something that happened at worship and and and immediately after worship. And my wife and I were talking about it. And so we were talking about a particular person and what this particular person did. And I found myself calling him a name. And I I was immediately convicted of my sin and recognizing that's. That's an issue with me. It's not about him. And it's not even really about me calling him that name. He he will never know that I called him that name. But but I know that. And I know that it's a reflection of I haven't yet completed allowing the Lord to transform me. And that when I am fully and completely like Jesus, those sort of jabs and those sort of pokes at people will disappear because I'm becoming more like Jesus. And and I think that's what I have to work on. I have to work on submitting and surrendering myself to the work of the spirit and the work of Jesus in my life so that my my language and the way that I treat people and talk about people is naturally transformed.

Matt Mead: I think that's so so good and and so true. This it's not really a misdirection per se, but you know, allowing us to do something for the purpose of something else coming out in and not from a a cause and effect, you know, direct line, but from just the the results of the relationship, I think that is is really important. When we think about you know, this idea of trying to be wise and trying to be righteous and trying to, you know, value truth, I think sometimes we allow the pursuit of what we perceive to be those things to also feed into how we feel about people. Like how do we walk the line of being people of conviction, but also people of grace and also people who are mindful of our own words.

Wes McAdams: Yeah. I imagine there was a an aspect of the sermon that got a lot of people's attention. And because it got my attention, like I was nervous about going through this list. When James says that that with the same mouth we bless God and we curse those who are made in his likeness, I I went through a list of people that that might frustrate you or people that might disappoint you or people you might disagree with and how all of those people are made in the likeness of God. And at the end of that list I also said that doesn't mean that you have to agree with people, but it does mean you can't curse them. And and I'm really glad that that this question is coming up because I I think that how we do this is so important. And it goes back to what you were saying a second ago. It is about what we say, but it's also about how we say what we say and why we say what we say. Like it is not okay for us to curse people, it is not okay for us to be selfishly ambitious, it is not okay for us to be jealous, it is not okay for us to to say things that are hurtful and harmful. Now, that doesn't mean that it's not okay for us to disagree or for us to speak truth or to be people of conviction. But how do we express our conviction and how do we express the truth? We can still express even hard truth with love and with joy and with peace and with patience. Hopefully, hopefully, if I if I was doing what I was intending to do yesterday, I did that. You know, like I was trying to express hard truth, but do so in a way that I'm trying to say it as humbly as I know how, as kind as I know how, as gently as I know how. We can still express difficult things in a way that says, Listen, this breaks my heart. This is not a fun thing for for me to share. We all know what it's like to have someone tell us something that we know it's not only hard for us to hear, it's hard for them to say. We also know what it's like for people to say things to us that it's hard for us to hear, but we kind of get the feeling that they enjoyed saying it. Like they enjoyed hurting us with those words. Like they wanted to say that to us. They they wanted to burn us to the ground. And again, we're probably guilty of doing the same thing, of saying something to someone. And we enjoy the pain that it inflicts. That's an issue in our heart that needs to be addressed. It isn't necessarily that what we said was wrong. Maybe what we said was right. Maybe it needed to be said, but maybe we're not the right person to say it because maybe our relationship with God isn't healthy enough that we can say this, manifesting, producing the fruit of the spirit. If we can't say this with kindness and with gentleness, with humility, with self-control. Then we're not the ones to say it. Or maybe it doesn't need to be said at all. But if it does, maybe, if maybe we're not at the place in our spiritual walk where we can say that thing. And it also is about why. Like, why are we saying this to someone? Do we really want what is in their best interest? Speaking hard truth, speaking our conviction isn't an end in and of itself. Like our goal needs to be to help people become more like Jesus. And if we're saying something, even if it's true, if if it's not serving that purpose, or we're not actually motivated by that, we just want to prove our rightness. We want to, as you know, many people say, virtue signal and say we're on the right side and you're on the wrong side, that's not a Christian motivation. Our motivation should be to help them. Our motivation is should should be: I want to be like Jesus. I want to show you what it looks like to be like Jesus. And I want you to be more like Jesus. And if the words that I'm saying and the way that I'm saying them and the motivation behind my words doesn't reflect that, then even if they're true words, they don't reflect the heart of Christ.

Matt Mead: There's there's several great things in there that I want to touch on and I wanna go ahead and actually read a question from that we received as well, 'cause it it's similar to that question, but it also begins to speak to how we interact amongst the community of believers and how we also interact with those outside. It says How do you recommend best balancing not cursing others, but also standing up for the Lord and speaking out against things that are not aligned with God's instructions? instruction either from non believers or brothers and sisters. And you talked about that in your answer there, but I'd like for you to speak to that last part, the differentiation between the two, or is there a differentiation and how do you go about navigating that?

Wes McAdams: Yeah, that is a great question. I'm glad you I'm glad you pointed that out in that question. I'm glad that question came in because there is a difference. And and those who are part of the body of Christ, they have volunteered. Nobody becomes a Christian by force. Like you can't be compelled to be a follower of Jesus. You signed up for this. You submitted yourself to baptism. You submitted to following Jesus. And if we did, then we are submitting to the way of Christ. And we are voluntarily saying, hold me accountable to that. And if I'm not walking in the way of Christ, like tell me that. Tell me in love, of course, but tell me that this is not in keeping with the gospel. This is not in keeping with the way of Christ. Hold me accountable to that. The the unbelieving world, they didn't sign up for this. Like they didn't volunteer to follow Jesus. And so we can't hold them to that standard. It doesn't mean that their behavior isn't wrong, but it means that we how we go about Correcting them, if we correct them, is totally different because we're inviting them into a relationship with Jesus. We're we're showing them that this way is better. It's better than the way of rebellion. It's better than the way of the world. But we have to do so in a winsome way. We have to help them to see that we're offering them good news and that the result of this style of living, this way of living, this path that you're on. I believe that it it's going to lead to dis to destruction. And I think that sometimes that's obvious. Like sometimes people are looking for an answer and they realize that, hey, you know, I I get drunk every weekend and I'm with a different person every weekend. And and man, I just I I don't know where this is leading. I don't know where why I keep living this and keep going back to the same things over and over again. And it's not bringing me any satisfaction and happiness. Like, man, we should be looking for opportunities to say I I've got a I've got something better. I've got a better alternative, a better way of living. If somebody is convinced that their lifestyle is is right and good, but you know that it's leading to destruction, like you have to be very strategic in how you talk to them and how you say, Have you considered this? Would you be willing to consider this? Could we have a conversation about that? Just wagging our finger at people and telling them that's wrong because the Bible says so. It's not really effective and it's not really our calling. Our calling is to invite people to Jesus. And they have to see that following Jesus is worth giving up all of these other things. And Jesus was really clear about that. When people, even people that came to him and said, I want to follow you, Jesus was very clear to say, you need to count the cost. And you need to be so convinced that following me. And the kingdom that I'm offering you is so valuable that you voluntarily and want to, desire to, out of joy, give up everything else in order to follow me. But if you're not convinced of that, you know, come and see. That that's our series next month is come and see and come and see that this lifestyle of following Jesus really is that valuable that you should want to give up everything else in order to follow him. But if you're not convinced of that, then Let me show you. Like let me show you that those need to be the conversations that we have with people where we are inviting them to see, hey, I want you to see what a Christian life looks like. And and I think that you'll realize that that following Jesus really is worth it. It's worth the sacrifices. Some people know that they need to change. Other people don't know what needs to change in their life. And if they don't know, then trying to argue with them probably isn't going to convince them. But showing them that you love them and that Jesus loves them, that might convince them that that the way of Jesus is better than whatever path they're on.

Matt Mead: I think, you know, as I was hearing you you talk there, what kind of came to mind is maybe a good litmus test that that we can do for ourselves is is asking, are we more excited about telling them about the possible flourishing they can receive from being with Jesus, or are we more excited to correct them for where we see the error of you know, going on in their lives? And maybe excited is not the right word, maybe it's you know a stronger sense of of need, like the that that's our calling instead of allowing the sharing of the good news to be our calling, maybe that can be a helpful litmus test. Here's another question that that we got in this week, and I'll I'll kind of read the the commentary with it as well as well. It says there are so many things that forget to be talked about in sermons. On one end of the spectrum, there are Christians who think they are very religious, as was mentioned in service, and on the other end of the spectrum, there are Christians who have low self-esteem and are very insecure about themselves. Those people curse others because of their own insecurities and their need to fix and control other people, both ends of the spectra must be discussed in future sermons if that's appropriate. So I just wanna to let you respond to to that input this week.

Wes McAdams: Yeah, and I I I think that that brings up a really interesting idea. Like there are always things that don't get mentioned or covered in a sermon. There are things that don't get mentioned or covered in a Bible class. That doesn't mean that they've been forgotten. And I I think we need to remember that. That we need to remember that that the point of a sermon, hopefully, as I see it, is to preach Jesus and point people to Jesus. Coming from a particular text. And that's what I try to do. I try to say, here's what this text says, and here's how it points us to Jesus. And here's how this particular text helps us to rely more on him and trust more in him and follow more closely to him and how he can do what we can't do on our own. And this particular text talks about boasting. It talks about that sort of arrogant believing that you are more than you actually are. And James is trying to Help them to understand that they're lying to themselves, they're fooling themselves. Now it's also true that some people have a low self-esteem. I don't think that's covered in the text, and that's why I didn't cover it, is because it's not covered in the text. There are always all kinds of things. It's one reason we have this PS podcast, so we can talk about some of the things that didn't get covered by that particular text or by me in a a particular sermon. Sometimes things are covered in the text, and I just don't have time in 30 minutes to cover everything. And it's true. And I but I think we have to be really careful that we don't expect more out of a sermon than is able to be covered. And and we have to recognize that that yes, this is dealing with one particular issue, one particular struggle, one particular sin, one particular tendency that people have in order that might need to be avoided, one particular struggle. And there are all kinds of other things. And we're we're trying to cover as many of those things as we possibly can, but we're also trying to stick close to the text and put first things first and point people to Jesus. And it's always about him. And we need to we need to try to to to do that, or at least that's what I'm trying to do as as the preacher. And I think it's helpful but for people to understand that that's what I'm trying to do. And I'm trying to limit myself to what the text actually teaches.

Matt Mead: I think it's very helpful and you know the idea of doing additional introspection to to pinpoint why a certain behavior might be happening in your own life is not necessarily a bad exercise, but recognizing that it may not be the particular text during the week I think is is very helpful. We did receive a a a third question with some commentary this week and we appreciate all the questions that we receive. That's one of the purposes of this podcast. So thank you for sending this Our third question begins with James is one of my favorite books, and you have finally helped some scriptures I've struggled with for years click with me. It also opened my eyes to bitterness and envy I didn't realize I was carrying. I can finally start making changes now that I see it clearly. One more thing, when you named groups of people in the sermon, I'd add special needs individuals. As a special needs teacher I see them overlooked often, and I believe they are made in his Yeah.

Wes McAdams: Yeah, I think I n nothing to add to that other than to say I I love when people Continue the the dot dot dot. You know, when they when they fill in the blanks with, and and then that applies to this and that applies to that. And there are infinite number of applications that we can make to say, who is it that I have a tendency to overlook, or who is it that I see being overlooked, or who is it that is made in the likeness of God that keeps being treated as if they're not made in the likeness of God, as if they are less than or as if they're not actually human. We need to be we need to be mindful of that. And I love what This comment said about what James does is James, you know, helps to turn on the lights for us, helps us to realize and recognize where where maybe we've been struggling and things that we've overlooked. And that's exactly why James started his letter the way he did, why I tried to start my sermon the way that I did. Be quick to listen and slow to speak and slow to become angry. We he is recognizing our own tendency to be defensive and to put up guards to say, this doesn't apply to me, or this doesn't apply to that situation, or how dare you say this thing about me. And we all have to be introspective and to say, where do I need to change? And and how is the spirit convicting me? And how does he want to transform me? So I love that and I love the addition of of special needs people that that constantly get overlooked and are not treated as if they bear the image of God and are made in God's likeness because that's absolutely true what this person is saying.

Matt Mead: Absolutely. I'd like to spend a little bit of time on the contrasting wisdom picture that James paints with the two different types of of wisdom. And you know, when you think about that you spend a little bit of time talking about one of the words used to describe the wisdom from the world being demonic. And I know that I'm sure got a lot of people, you know, paying attention there and I'd like to spend a little bit of time on that, but I'd also like to maybe ask how you think that is connected to James's other usage of the idea of the demons that he's referenced before about you know, their their faith but not their their works being connected to it. Do you see those two things that word choice being intentional or do you think that's just a just a descriptor of worldly wisdom in and of itself.

Wes McAdams: I had never thought about that. So thank you for bringing that up. I do now, but I had never thought about that before. That's a really interesting observation. I never thought about the connection between those two usage. I I think it does highlight something really interesting that James tends to be, I think, thought of as this very practical book, and it is practical. And you used the term practical wisdom earlier, and I think that's true, but there's a lot more spiritual. depth to this book than people realize. Martin Luther called it an epistle of straw. Like he hated this book. He he thought it didn't point to Jesus. He didn't talk about Jesus enough. It was this sort of works-based religion stuff. And it's like that's not what James is doing at all. I think that's a gross misunderstanding of what he's doing. And there really is depth there that when we when we act this way, it is not only unspiritual and not only earthly, it's demonic. I think meaning that we are believing lies that are the result of demonic work. Like there is a spiritual battle going on, Ephesians chapter six. James doesn't break this all out, but he assumes that this is our worldview, like that we see the world this way, and that when we act in such a way that we are manifesting spiritual or rather selfish ambition and this vain conceit. Then we are we are participating with and are aligned with, partnering with demonic forces rather than with the forces of Christ that have overcome the demonic. Like that this is the problem that when we, as Paul puts it, when we are walking in the flesh, when we when our our life is full of the works of the flesh, we are participating with the unspiritual, the earthly forces, the demonic forces, rather than the spiritual forces of God, rather than the the the gospel of Jesus that has overcome the world and has overcome the demonic forces. That if we put on the spiritual armor, then the demonic forces have no claim on us. But if we walk in the flesh, we we very much are believing the lies of the demons and we are not believing the truth Of the gospel. And and how much of our life comes down to that is what story do we believe? What story are we participating in? And I think that's really it. Is the demons know, like they know who Jesus is. They know that he's the Son of God, as you said, like they have that sort of belief, but they're not living in subjection to, in submission to, in obedience to King Jesus. They are living in rebellion to him. And when we are trying to be on top and when we are living according to our own selfish ambition and when we are boasting we are living according to the demon story we are living in rebellion to the gospel story that Jesus is king and he's in charge. When we believe that he's in charge then our life can be pure and peaceable and gentle and open to reason and full of mercy and good fruits and all the things that that James lists it can be full of the fruit of the spirit. But it really comes down to what story do we believe and what story are we living according to.

Matt Mead: think that, you know, sometimes saying things explicitly are a little bit different, like I don't think I've ever thought about, you know, verbalizing somebody living a demon story but you know, but at the same time, like, that's true, right? I mean like when we get past the you know kind of our Western maybe anti, you know, spiritualized worldview at times, like we miss, you know, not only the impact of our actions within the the broader scope but also the impact on our souls of of some of the the choices that we make for sure. When you think about this text there was so much that you brought out. I just kinda wanted to give you an open-ended question as well, like if there's something that we haven't talked about from this sermon that you wanted to make sure that that we went to what what is something that maybe you hope people will take this week and you know begin to to let sink in even further.

Wes McAdams: That's a good question. I mean, there so much of James, and I'm really only realizing it Through this study, I don't know that I realized it even before we started this study, even when I even as I started the series, how much of this book is about humility and about how we fool ourselves and we're lying to ourselves so often. Our own tendency to be self-deceived. And I and I hope people are are taking that away from the series and asking themselves, how am I lying to myself? Yes, how are the demons lying to me? How are how is the world lying to me? But how am I lying to myself? What are the lies that I tell myself that I'm tempted to believe and that I do believe. Because as we started this series, we talked about how often we we talk to ourselves and the stories we tell ourselves and how much of those are not even true. They're they're lies. And and I I need to check myself constantly because I'm constantly fooling myself and lying to myself about who I really am. That's how we started this this week's question was what you is the real you, what version of you is the real you? We have this tendency to dismiss these aspects of our life and say, well that's not the real me. I was just really tired that day. I was really hungry that day. I I've I've been really stressed out lately. And James is saying, hey, if your life is producing these things, take note, because that's who you are. Like you can't dismiss that. You can't justify that. That's who you are. And it's an indication that something needs to change. And I think so often We don't accept that as reality. We dismiss it. And we can't begin to change until we're willing to humbly accept the fact that, yeah, that is the real me. And it's a problem and it needs to change. As long as I keep justifying myself and excusing myself, I'm not going to allow the word to change me in the ways that I need to be changed.

Matt Mead: I think that is is really good and it's really I guess hard to accept sometimes that and and I mean I've used every single one of those things that you brought out. I'm stressed, I'm tired, I'm I'm hungry, you should have seen my day or or whatever, but I guess at the end of the day sometimes we We want to make everybody else accountable for all of their actions and and you know, we make the choices that we make about our sleep and about taking care of ourselves and about, you know, the people we spend time around and and how we manage our energy is a spiritual thing and in a lot of ways and the way that it prepares us to speak appropriately to others, sometimes is a matter of controlling our schedule and controlling our our interactions as well. Well thank you so much. That was really a great lesson and a convicting lesson and I really appreciated the way you went about it this week and and throughout this series. But as we're coming up on next week, how would you like to to preview next week?

Wes McAdams: Yeah, next week we're talking about this idea that you shouldn't say, tomorrow I'm gonna do this, that, or the other thing. And and how that's arrogant. And we don't often stop and think about that. That it's it's arrogant, it's proud, it's it's prideful to say, hey, I'm gonna do this and I'm gonna do that, and I'm gonna do this other thing. And man, if there's anything convicting to those of us who love efficiency and productivity and planning like I do, this is it. Because we really do, we take those things for granted and we act like we're in charge of. the world. And again, James is all about humility and cutting through all of the talk and all of the the boisterous boasting and pride that we have. And and I think this really gets to the heart of of trusting in the Lord and what it really looks like to be fearless and faithful. That's our theme for the year. And and it really is about humility and it's about approaching every situation, every circumstance, every interaction with another person and every new day with humility to say, I'm not in charge, but I trust the Lord. And I trust that that where he's leading me and what he's doing in my life is a good thing. And I'm going to trust wherever he leads me.

Matt Mead: forward to that. I won't say I'll put it on my calendar to listen to this next week. But w if the Lord wills we'll be there to to hear that lesson this week. So thank you so much for for this conversation and we hope to see you this week as well. have a great week. Thank you.

Wes McAdams: Thanks so much for listening to P.S., the Post Sermon Podcast. To find out more about this podcast or about the Church of Christ on McDermott Road, you can visit our website at ccmcdermott.org slash P.S. If this has been an encouragement to you, we also hope you will rate and review the show wherever you're listening, as well as share it with a friend. Because we believe sermons are not just for Sunday, but for our whole week and our whole life.