My Terrible Tongue

With the tongue, we praise our Lord and Father. And with it, we curse human beings who have been made in God's likeness out of the same mouth. From the same tongue come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be so.

Hello, friends. Welcome to the Life Tabernacle Church podcast. It's an honor to be with you today. This podcast serves as our church's weekly sermon archive. Tune in each week to hear what God is speaking in our community.

Be sure to follow and share with a friend. We hope you enjoy today's message.

This morning. So if you have your bibles, let's go to James chapter three. James chapter three, and I ain't gonna lie to you. This this this passage is not one I've been really looking forward to, and you'll know why here in a minute. It's a very difficult topic, but I'm thankful that we get to partake into it together today to hear what God's speaking to us.

So again, James chapter three. We'll be starting in verse one, reading through verse 12. When you're there, say, I'm there. I'm there. I'm there.

Here we go. James three, starting verse one. This is the word of the Lord. Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, Because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways.

Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect. Able to keep their whole body in check. When we put bits into the mouths of horses and make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.

Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it also makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire. A world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one's life on fire, and it itself set on fire by hell.

All kinds of animals and birds, reptiles, and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue, we praise our Lord and our Father. And with it, we curse human beings who've been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.

My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. My friends, this is the word of the Lord.

Let us pray together this morning. Lord, we thank you that we've got to gather together under your word. Lord, this is not an easy word. Talking about our mouths and our tongues and our words. Lord, help us to just be humble enough to receive what your word says.

The name of the Lord Jesus, we pray. Amen. Amen. Look at your neighbor and say the tongue. Tongue.

Speaking of tongues, it's usually from the tongue that we hear lies. And growing up in my life, I heard quite a few bad lies that are just not even real. One of the worst lies that my family told me growing up. They convinced me that leprechauns were real. I know it's really random, but it makes sense.

So every Saint Patrick's Day, I would go outside with a Kroger bag or a trash bag. And we had this little like she shed in the backyard. And my sisters, unknown to me, would hide in the shed. And my dad would say, Dallas, I saw a leprechaun run into the shed. You gotta go get it.

Cause if you get it, you're gonna get like a prize at Saint Patrick's Day. They're gonna give you gold or something. So every year I'd get my bag. I'd go outside real nervous to the shed. And my sisters were on the inside of the shed going something like this, like on the doors.

And I'm like, he's there. And then my dad would say, he's running that way. And I would take off hauling butt through the yard into the woods to never find a leprechaun. And for years, up until I was, I think How old was I? 16.

Up until I was like 16 years old. Just kidding. I was not that old. I really believe leprechauns are real. And then when I realized, hey, this was my sisters playing a joke on me.

I felt a little offended and a little embarrassed and it was actually quite funny. My dad, you remember that? That was probably some of the best entertainment for you out of the year. Is that correct? We do it again next year.

Okay. So if you didn't know, leprechauns weren't real. So sorry. Broke the news to you today. Another lie that I was told as a kid, again from my parents, sorry, is that is about meatloaf.

Okay. Random. I know. But raise your hand if you like meatloaf. I like it now, but I didn't like it when I was a kid.

And when I was like five, six years old, I didn't want anything to do with a meatloaf. It's kinda like it's kind of a sounds weird. I wish I had a better name, meatloaf. It's just like what? Right?

And I remember my dad's like, hey, we're gonna have meatloaf. I'm like, I'm not eating it. I'm gonna have McDonald's. I'm gonna have something. I'm not having meatloaf.

So that night, my dad cooked something different. I said, dad, what is this? He said, this is meat casserole. It's delicious. I said, oh, wow.

And I remember getting a large plate full and I ate it all. And I was like, wow. That was so good. Can we have meat casserole again? And my dad was like, actually, that's not meat casserole.

That is meatloaf. And I was like, oh, oh, I feel so sick. I can't do that again. But I'm like, I felt lied to. Meat casserole and meatloaf?

Okay. This next one's not about my parents. So y'all can take a break. Another lie that I was told as a kid over and over and over again, even by some people in this church, is that the Dallas Cowboys were good. And that they were somehow God's team.

K? We're gonna need a lot of prayer for that to change. Am I right? Everybody's always I don't think that's God's team. Cause if it was God's team, I think we would be doing better than we are.

Right? No. No. No. In all serious though, the next one I'm about to tell you.

It's a famous quote that all of you all know. It might have been the greatest lie I was told as a kid. And that is it is this phrase. The phrase goes something like this. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.

What a load of baloney. There is not a greater lie I've been told because I tell you what. I have broken bones. I have broken hips. I have broken elbows.

I have broke my ankle. I have broke almost everything in my body. And guess what? They all heal. A little sore.

Arthritis comes here and you know, when it rains, my hip hurts. I get it. But be honest with you, all those things have healed pretty quickly. But the words, the negative words somebody's given me even from my childhood, man they sting. And they stick with you a lot longer than a broken bone.

Yes. Sticks and stones may break my bones but words never hurt me. No. No. No.

No. I think it should we should change the phrase. It should be this. It should be sticks and stones may break my bones but words will always hurt me. Because I mean, I I have unfortunately experienced a negative or a bad word too many times.

And all of us, you don't have to raise your hands, all of us have had a harsh word given to you, an angry word given to you, a disrespectful word given to you. And it penetrates through the body, through the ears, into the heart. And sometimes those words stick around with you forever. Could even be a word that you were given as a kid. Perhaps your mother or father said something to you like you'll never be anything.

Or I don't love you or I don't want anything to do with you. You're nobody. You'll never be anything. And even though we know those things aren't true, we actually take them as truth and they sit in our hearts and hurt us for a long time. Yeah.

I can put a band aid on a cut, but it's really difficult to put a band aid on my heart from a negative, hurtful word. So today, I don't wanna act like I was looking forward to this topic of the tongue and of the mouth and the words we speak, but I can guarantee that you're gonna leave here today with a better perspective on your mouth. So look at your neighbor and say, your mouth. And mind you, this sermon's not for your neighbor today. It's not for the person next to you.

Don't tap your neighbor and say, oh, this is for you. You better listen up. It's for all of us. Right? So look at your neighbor and say, this is for you.

And to say, this is for me. Okay? This is this is for us. Okay? So this is for all of us.

So today, as we look to God's word for wisdom, for attaining teaching that will help us become righteous in all that we do. Because remember, we've been in this book of James, the letter of James. James wants to help us be fully integrated believers. That we're not just hearers of God words, but we're what? Doers of God's word.

We're actually doing the things God says. He wants us to be the best possible Christ like Christians that we can possibly be. And perhaps there's no other topic more important or more pertinent to the one we're gonna study on today on the famous teaching called taming the tongue. So just let your hearts be open to the possibility of change and healing as we approach this subject with humility, knowing that we can all benefit from learning how to discipline our mouths. If I had to put a title on today, I haven't been titling all my sermons.

But if I had to put a title on today, I would probably call this My Terrible Tongue. Look at your neighbor and say, Terrible Tongue. My Terrible tongue. And not only today in James three verses one through 12, do we get the topic of the tongue. Two more times in the next few weeks, we're gonna get two more different teachings on our mouths and tongues.

James is going to bring it up another time and then another time. And he's already talked about it once. So in this six chapter book, James has four distinct teachings on our mouths and on our tongues. And because of that, I think we ought to pay attention to what he is saying. So together, let's start digging back through this word.

So look back at James chapter three starting in verses one through two. James three one says this, not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways who anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check. Let's start with what he says. He says, not many of you should become teachers.

He's saying, hey, I'm gonna caution you. As a teacher, James is a teacher of God's word. And he's saying, hey, look. We who teach God's word, we who lead and speak to God's people. Well, not many of you all should want to do that because it's going to be come a stricter judgment.

Some commentators believe that James is maybe only speaking to those who want to be pastors or leaders who speak God's word. But when you read this book altogether, James is not just talking about those who want to be teachers or pastors or leaders. No. He's talking to all of us. And there's a group of people within the church that they really were coveting the position of a teacher.

Because it was an honorable position. It was a high position. He's saying, look, you should not be seeking this position. You should not want to be a teacher per se, unless God really wants you to do it, because you are going to be judged more strictly. Can you say strictly?

Strictly. I don't expect a kid to say everything right. When a kid unfortunately says their first cuss word, it just blows you away. You're like, what how did you learn that? Semi, about six months ago, she said a word in my house, and I said, Semi, yeah.

I almost got the soap and started cleaning that mouth. I'm like, where did you hear that word? She's like, I heard it at the park. I'm like, well, I can't even go to the park. My kid learned to cuss words.

Right? But I don't expect Simmy to understand that word. But if, you know, sister Judy started cussing me out, I'd be like, I'm gonna judge you more strictly than I judge Leah right here Because you understand. And that's the idea. He's saying, those of you who want to be Leah, we're gonna be judged more strictly about what everything that comes out of our mouths.

So you should just be weary of just trying to pursue at a leadership position where you're speaking before others. Then he moves in in this passage and he says, we all stumble in many ways. And isn't that true? All of us struggle and stumble in different ways. Some of us struggle with our mouths.

Some of us can struggle with controlling our bodies. We're gluttons or or we're taking in too much or we've struggled with alcoholism. You name the thing. We all stumble in sin and struggle in many ways. But then he pivots and he says, anyone who is never at fault and what they say is perfect.

Did you catch it? Says, if you're able to control your mouth and not say a negative word, he says, you're perfect. Lord knows I'm not. But he's saying, if you're able to control this thing, it's perfect and the whole body will be perfect. The whole body will be kept in check.

And that's amazing that this little thing in our mouths can control everything that happens in our bodies outwardly and inwardly. And that's when he begins to move to verse three. Look with me here. And he begins to make some really vivid analogies and imagery to help you understand how powerful this thing in our mouth is. Look at verse three.

It says, we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us. We can turn the whole animal. Let's just pause there. Does anybody like watching horse racing? Okay.

I'm not a betting man so that I don't really I'm not gonna go to Church Hill Downs and put some money on so and so horse. Okay. But I am amazed watching these very small jockeys get on these enormous horses that are very expensive and they're able to direct that horse wherever they want to go on the track. Even to the point where when they're weaving, if you ever watch a horse race and the horses, these massive animals, they're weaving through traffic together and not They're not even tripping each other up sometimes. They're so skilled because the jockey or the horse rider has this little thing called a bridle or a bit in the mouth of the horse.

And by this little small bit, they're able to pull left or right on the leather harness to direct this massive creature wherever they want to go. Then he gives another analogy of a ship. He said, take ships for example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, the and and and steer by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Raise your hand if you've been on a cruise in here.

You've been on a cruise? Anybody wanna go on a cruise? You do? Anybody not wanna go on a cruise? Okay.

I get it. The sea is really Yeah. The sea is kinda freaky. There is a few ships in the world. There's three ships by Royal Caribbean.

They're called the icon of the seas, the star of the seas, and the legend of the seas. And when you look at those ships, they're behemoth. I'm talking some of the it's unimaginable how big these ships are. And a picture doesn't do it justice until you're there with it. And to put this in perspective, each of these ships ray weighs around 250, 800,000 gross tons.

And since we don't really function with tongues a whole bunch tons with a whole bunch, let me tell you what that is in pounds. Each of these ships that sits on the ocean weighs 552,000,000 pounds. That's insane. That's not something I can imagine. How does something this big float and not just sink?

But what's even more crazy is this. On these boats, these boats have three propellers that are propulsing and directing the ship. And these three propellers combined weigh a total of 600 tons. Or in other words, they weigh 1,200,000 pounds. Now obviously, 1,200,000 pounds is a lot.

But compared to 552,000,000 pounds, we can't really fathom that. So I wanna show you something this morning. Okay? You see this. Anybody know what this is?

This is a golf ball. Okay? Very good. This is a golf ball. Not real heavy.

Lewis, I'm gonna embarrass you again. Come on. Here we go. You know what Levi? Let me do you.

Come on. Come on. Let's go. I want you to hold this. Tell me how heavy that is.

Not heavy. Look at the audience. Okay? Look at all our friends. So this doesn't weigh that much.

Anybody can pick this up. Okay? This is what the propeller is. Now, if you were to put that in perspective, stay right here. If you were to put that in perspective to give an idea how heavy this thing is, you would need something like this.

Alright. This weighs around 47 pounds. Okay? Open your arms. Do not drop it.

You good? Now which is heavier? Do you just say the golf ball? Are you okay? We're gonna get your sun checked.

Okay. Thank you so much. Go sit down. I'm worried about you now. Okay?

What's crazy is this. Is on the ship, this ship is this. And somehow, the ship is directed wherever the pilot wants to go by something this small. That doesn't make sense to me. And that's what James is saying is our mouth.

He's saying something this small, almost looks unimportant to the rest of the thing is able to direct this wherever it wants to go. That's not something I can really fathom or understand, but that in fact is the truth. And then he says this, consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. All of you unfortunately have seen the news of forest fires. The ones in Canada, ones out west, the ones that have happened over the years.

And those don't happen become some redneck decides to burn down a 100 acres at one time. Just one spark in a dry area can lead to millions and millions of beautiful acres of mountains and woods and trees to be completely burned to ash. Something so small can lead to this much damage. Then he says, the tongue is also a fire. A world of evil among the parts of the body.

It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one's life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. Our mouths are set on fire by hell. What? This little thing right here has the same type of fire held us. We should listen to James.

He's using all these analogies and imageries to make the point that this thing right here is of great importance. And I love what he says. He says, the tongue is set on fire by hell. That reminds me of something. It should remind you of something.

It was by the word of God that the world was created. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. God didn't have to just take the earth and make it with his hands. By his word, he created all things. Right?

And then it was by words from the serpent given to Eve that everything went sideways. It was by words God said, Adam and Eve, where are you? And it was with words Adam and Eve began to say, it's her fault. It's his fault. The serpent told me.

Words. The serpent's words set on fire by hell. And because we decided to listen to the words of the enemy in the beginning, instead of the words of our glorious and perfect holy God. Our tongues and our whole world has been set on fire by hell itself. God cares about our words.

Look at your neighbor and say, words. Words. Words. If that wasn't enough though, I think we're getting the point. Thank you, James.

James goes on in verse seven to make this even more clear. He says, all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind. But no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. No human being can tame the tongue.

I love those pictures of elephants. I don't know if you like elephants but you see these massive creatures. Huge. And they shouldn't be able to be stopped by anything. But some of the circus people found out if you put a stake in the ground, you tie a rope around the stake, and then you tie a rope around that elephant's foot, the elephant won't go anywhere.

Out of fear of, hey, I can't go anywhere. I'm stuck. I'm I'm I'm weighed down. And we're able to do that. We're able to stop a creature that weighs five, six, 700 times we do.

And yet, we can't tame the little thing that weighs just a couple ounces in our mouth. He says, it's restless evil full of deadly poison. And today, because I love you so much, I was able to get my hands on some of this poison. Would you help me lately? I wanted to send you all home with one of these today.

Lewis, give me a hand. I want I I bought everybody a tongue. You're welcome. And everybody's gonna get one. Okay?

When you get your tongue, I want you to take it out of the package. Okay? Go for it. Take them out. I got you some deadly poison.

It's freaky, so just calm down. It's gonna feel real weird, but it's good. This is a good thing for you. Okay? This is when you thank God for Amazon, let me tell you.

Grab your tongues real quick. If you wanna leave them in the package, put them on the shelf, that's fine. But I want if you can, I want you to have this in your hand so you can feel what I'm trying to say? Make a good laugh for you too.

We need these for the kids.

We need these for the kids. I hope I have enough. I might not. I might be running. I've been getting close.

No, ma'am. If you eat it, then I will be visiting you at Carillon later. Please don't do that. I should've got gummy ones. That would've been awesome.

That would've been awesome. Alright. Everybody got their tongues? I know that makes you feel uncomfortable. It should.

K? And I want and and when you leave today, I want I need you to put this in a place where you can see it often. Okay? Put in your car or by your bed. You know?

If you next to your phone, sure. You can wear it as a necklace. We can have a little little craft time. We can all wear our tongues together. Okay?

Alright. James says, this little thing right here. The little thing in your hands is like all of these things. It is a restless evil, full of poison. It is like a spark that burns the whole forest down.

It is like a rudder that guides a massive ship. It is like all these things. And with that tongue in your hand, listen to what he says in verse nine as he begins to get to the climax of his argument. Verse nine says, with the tongue. Say the tongue.

Wave your tongues. You got it? With the tongue, we praise our Lord and Father. And with it, we curse human beings who have been made in God's likeness out of the same mouth. From the same tongue come praise and cursing.

My brothers and sisters, this should not be so. Blessing and cursing. Out of our mouths, we can look at someone and say, you're nobody. Nobody loves you. You're not doing a good job.

I'm not proud of you. You are this, that, and the other. We curse people. But we also can praise and bless God with our tongues. And I wanna pause here for a minute.

Proverbs fifteen one says, a gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stores up anger. Obviously, the majority of what we've been talking about today is in the negative sense, of the negative things the tongue can do. But let's just pause to consider. Because he also said, we praise our Lord and savior with this mouth. We bless others.

I can't tell you. There's nothing in this world perhaps more encouraging than a good word from somebody. Whether it is from God's word to us. Because sometimes you open up God's word, you read it, and it's like, it brings life to your soul. It's better than any piece of food you could eat.

It literally nourishes you, and that's just a good word. Or when you're having a hard time in life, and all of a sudden you get a call from a friend and say, hey, just wanna let you know you've been on my heart. I'm praying for you. God's got you. He's gonna bring healing to you.

There's something about that that can bless you and help you move on when you really need it. Don't want you to lose sight today because we're thinking of all the negative. But think about all positive the tongue can do too. Right? It's blessing and cursing.

But here's his point about painting that. He says, from this mouth come both. It's confusing. Some days you're blessing and praising God, And other days you're telling your brother and sister in Christ how horrible they are. Cussing somebody out at Kroger.

Upset at this, that, or the other. Out of the same mouth, he says, this should not be so. It's confusing. And this is maybe why sometimes when people get around us, they're confused. Because sometimes we're really encouraging and we're blessing, we're asking, and we're loving on them.

Then other days, we're not. And they feel nervous being around you because they don't know which one of you they're gonna get that day because out of your mouth is coming blessing and cursing and people are confused. They feel anxious around you. And that's not something any of us should want. And that's why he just simply says, my brothers and sisters, this should not be so.

To put this in another illustration for you, raise your hand if you have a favorite restaurant. I have a favorite restaurant. I have favorite restaurants. And one of the best so my favorite restaurant right now is Martin's. Downtown Roanoke.

Have the some of the best burgers in Roanoke. Okay? And I love going there for a few reasons. Number one, it's affordable on Monday nights for date night. Number two, it tastes the same every time I go.

Number three, my server's always nice to me. And number four, the prices don't change. It's been like the same. The tax went up a little bit. That's it.

And I like going there because I know what I'm gonna get. Right? But the restaurants I dislike the most, the restaurants I don't go to anymore, is because sometimes they serve good food, but they have bad service. And then the prices are too high. And then one day I go back and it's good.

And then the next day I go back, it's bad. I'm gonna stop going because I feel like I'm wasting my time because I don't know what I'm going to get from this particular place. And that's the same thing with us. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. Sometimes we're praising God, and sometimes we're tearing others down.

It should not be this way. It's confusing. Then he gives one more illustration. To put this in perspective, look at verse 12. He said, my brothers and sisters, verse eleven and twelve.

My verse 12 specifically. My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives or a grape vine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. He's talking about inconsistent fruit from trees. Can a apple come from an orange tree, my friends?

No. No. Can you get a grapefruit from a banana tree? No. Each of the tree is supposed to produce its correlating fruit.

If it's an apple tree, can produce apple, grapefruit, grapefruit, you name it. And what James is trying to communicate with this little idea here is not something that he came up with on his own. Rather, these are the words of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. I need you to look at Luke six verses 43 through 45. And this is what ties this whole thing together.

Remember James has really based much of his writing, much of his book off the teachings of Jesus. And when he gives this last bit at the end of his sermon about fig tree and grapevine and this weird fruit that's inconsistent, he's actually quoting from Jesus. Let's read it together. It's on the screen behind me. It says, starting in verse 43, No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree produce good fruit.

Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thorn brushes or grapes from briars. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart. And an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

Oh, my friends. That's the whole thing. He says, what the mouth the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. If you if you just looked at any if you've paid attention, the only thing that James has told us so far in this message was in verses ten, eleven and twelve. He says, my brothers and sisters, this should not be so.

He didn't tell us how we are supposed to fix our mouths. He didn't tell us how, hey, here's the training regimen in order for you to get a control of your tongue. He says, you can't control it. It's uncontrollable. It's poison.

It's deadly. It wants to do its own thing. It has a will of its own set on fire by hell. And you're like, thank you. But what am I supposed to do?

And that's why that little bit at the end, can can this produce that? And then you go back to Jesus, and Jesus gives it to us. He says, the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. Can you look at your neighbor and say, the heart? The heart.

I love what Psalm one thirty nine says. Psalm one thirty nine twenty three and twenty four says this, search me God and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there's any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. He's made it very clear.

The problem with our mouths is our hearts. If you speak angry words, you have anger or sadness in your heart. If you love and bless others, it's because you have love and blessing in your heart. Whatever comes out of your mouth and whatever don't come don't doesn't come out of your mouth. Because sometimes the words we don't say speak as loudly as the words we do say.

He's saying it all flows from one place, the heart. My friends, it's clear. Our mouths are not a tongue issue. It's not this. This is not the real issue.

This is the real issue. Our hearts worship team, would you come up with me? Whether we speak an angry word, a worthless word, a fake word, a disrespectful word, whatever type of negative word you can think of. It all does flow from the same place. The thing in which the Lord called the most deceitful above all things.

The scriptures call our hearts deceitful. Our hearts can play tricks. Sometimes we think we are good when we're actually not in our hearts. Our hearts can deceive us into thinking many, many things. Everything good and bad and everything that is stored up in us eventually flows out of our heart.

So whether someone hurt you when you were a kid, whether you had a boss or a coworker at work who did something wrongly to get you terminated or to make you look bad at work, you maybe you had a coach who said, you're never gonna be anything. You're gonna be a terrible player. Whatever it is, we store those things up in our heart and eventually they leak out of our mouths. And unfortunately, we're not trying to hurt others sometime because we've been hurt so bad. It flies out and we hurt others.

The famous phrase goes, hurt people hurt people. And if you have a hurt heart, even though you love Jesus, some days you're going to bless others and some days you're gonna curse others. But James says, what? This should not be so. It should not be so.

This the topic of our speech or inconsistent or worldly speech is not so much an issue of self control of the mouth, but it is a condition of the heart. And if we ought to speak like Jesus, who wants to speak like Jesus? Because everywhere you look in the scriptures when he speaks, it what? It brings life. He speaks truth.

He doesn't lie. There was no deceit found in his mouth. He speaks only what is real and true and loving and right. And if we want to be like that, if we want to bless others, if we want to encourage others, if we wanna declare the truth and love at all times, then we must not tend to our tongues, but we must tend to our heart. Offering our heart to the Lord, asking him what Psalm one thirty nine said, Lord, search my heart and test me.

Would you stand with me this morning if you can? Tried to, by showing you different things and by putting a silly piece of tongue, little silicone in your hand, try to lighten the load of this text, but this text is heavy. There's been too many times in my life where I have bad mouthed people that I've not encouraged people with my words. There's been too many times in my life Look, this some some somebody needs this today. Listen closely.

Some of us here today don't speak so negatively to others. We speak negatively to ourselves. Sometimes I beat myself up and say, Dallas, you're not good enough. You're not smart enough. You're not you're not you're not this, that, or the other.

The problem is I'm not speaking what the Lord's already spoken over me. My tongue's set on fire by hell, and I'm just setting myself on fire. It should not be so, my brothers and sisters. So with your eyes closed this morning or however you need to get focused for a moment as we respond to this word about our mouths and our tongues, I simply just want you to ask, Holy Spirit, search my heart. Holy Spirit, look into my heart and know me and test my anxious thoughts.

See if there's anything offensive in me, Lord. Holy Spirit, show me the hurt that I put in my heart that comes out towards my spouse, towards my friends, towards others in general. Holy Spirit, we want to speak blessing in life. And as the famous saying goes, if we don't have anything nice to say, that we would learn because of our hearts not to say anything at all. So for the few moments as the worship team leads us and ministers, just ask the Holy Spirit, what is in my heart that I need to heal so that my mouth can heal?

Take a few moments to just pursue him. If you do need prayer, we're up here. But just seek after his face for a few moments, my friends.