On Purpose with Our Words

Well, we started a series a few weeks back, and we're about halfway through this.

It's kind of what's gonna get us to Christmas.

It's called Life on Purpose.

And if you're new, I've said this basically every week.

Our normal thing, if you're new, is we go through scripture.

We're going through a book of the Bible, or we're going through a section of a book of the Bible, and we're just kind of going word by word through it and studying that.

But then in between those series, we'll take a little break and do something topical.

And that's what we're doing right now, is we are we are studying this idea of what it would be like to live life on purpose, to be so intentional with how we live.

To be like Jesus.

Jesus was intentional, He did everything on purpose.

There's a difference between living life and life happening to you.

A lot of times we sort of get swept away by life and everything's busy and crazy.

I mean, especially at this time of the year, everything's so busy and crazy that it just sort of feels like you're on a roller coaster and you're just along for the ride.

That's what life can feel like.

Jesus didn't let life be like that for him.

Other people around him, they got swept up.

But Jesus didn't let it happen.

For example, early in his ministry, he was creating quite a bit of commotion.

I mean, Jesus was a rebel in the eyes of the religious leaders because they were so far from God in their hearts that God, the God they thought they worshiped, was in their midst, and they saw him as a rebel.

And so Jesus was causing commotion.

And it was a big deal, it was creating this huge stir.

And so his family, his mom and his brothers came to take him away.

Like, hey, we're bringing you back home.

We got to stop this.

They were they were getting swept up in all of the hysteria about Jesus.

And Jesus says, No.

No, my true mother and brothers are those who do the will of God.

He didn't get swept up in it, he didn't get carried away by everything that was going on.

There's this moment where Jesus takes a few of his disciples onto a mountaintop, and it's called the transfiguration.

That's sort of the theological term for it.

But Jesus in front of their very eyes transforms into who he is.

He was a man for 33 years.

He is God.

And they see that sort of divine version of Jesus, and Peter is swept up in the moment.

He's like, this is incredible.

Let's live here.

I'll build some shelters, like some little huts, and we'll just we'll be here forever.

And you can understand where Peter's coming from.

He's so amazing.

He's just swept up in the moment.

And Jesus says, No, we have work to do essentially.

They go back down the mountain and finish their mission.

Jesus lived in a time where politics was extremely explosive.

And this would end up culminating just a few years after Jesus into this major war with Rome.

And everyone was getting swept up by politics, if that maybe sounds familiar.

Everybody.

And Jesus didn't do it.

People tried to get him into it.

They tried to have him pick sides and speak to those issues.

And every time they tried to get Jesus into all of that, he sort of resists and takes a different approach.

My point is that Jesus didn't get carried away by life.

Life was not happening to him.

Jesus was living life, and he was living it with purpose and intention, and we are called to do the same.

Listen to the way that Ephesians chapter 5 puts it.

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

We've used this sort of as a foundation verse throughout this series.

Be careful how you live.

Be careful how you live.

Don't live like fools, but like those who are wise.

Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.

Don't act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.

We are called by God to live on purpose.

And it's not easy.

Last week we talked about being on purpose with our time, and it wasn't about time management skills.

It was about discerning what time am I in, God?

What season of life am I in?

And what is most important in this season?

What do I need to do right now?

I had some time with God recently, and I got to sort of look at my week and look at every single day in the week and go, what's the most important thing that happens on Monday?

What do I need to, what, what should be my focus on Tuesday?

And I have a different sort of schedule because of what I do here where it's very rhythmic.

You know, Sunday's gonna happen every Sunday.

And so my life sort of orchestrates around that, but I looked at my week and said, every single day of my week, what is my mission for that day?

What's the most important thing?

Trying to discern what is that time for, and I want to make the most of it.

Today we're gonna talk how to be about how to be on purpose with our words.

And this is hard.

Can we just acknowledge as a group how difficult it is to be intentional with what you say or what you post or what you text?

James puts it beautifully, James chapter 3, verse 2.

James 3:2

If we could control our tongues, we would be perfect.

And could also control ourselves in every other way.

I mean, man.

If we could control our tongues, if we could just have control over what comes out of our mouth, what we say, what we communicate, James is like, if you if you can master that, you've mastered everything.

It's tough.

Psalm 141 says, Take control of what I say, O Lord, and guard my lips.

That's a good thing to pray.

Every day.

Maybe like 10 times a day, maybe before every conversation.

Some of us should have prayed that before Thanksgiving dinner with our families, but we forgot to, and now we're paying the consequences.

Um, right?

Guard my lips.

Like, make sure what comes out of my mouth is what's right, what's good, what's what's needed.

Proverbs 12, 18 says, Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring healing.

We see in this scripture that there's this sort of dual nature to what we say, to what we communicate.

What we say can cut, what we say can also heal.

I'm sure we all have experiences with that.

Like, how many of you have said something that really cut somebody, that really hurt somebody?

Someone you maybe even cared about and loved?

Or someone you didn't.

How many of you like done that on purpose?

You can just be honest here at church.

I intentionally hurt someone really bad.

It's what I wanted to do, and I did it, and I was successful.

Anybody?

Yeah.

Man.

These messages are always really inconvenient for me because I have to like think through all the ways I mess up.

I was thinking about my time in college, and um, and professors didn't like me.

Uh, teachers really never did for the most part, a few.

But because I was I was just sort of difficult.

Number one, I'm talkative, I'm opinionated, and when I was younger especially, I was just very excited to share my opinion.

And, you know, sometimes that just got me in trouble.

And I had this one professor in college in particular, her name was Dr.

Harris.

Dr.

Harris didn't like me very much, and I didn't like Dr.

Harris, so I'm just gonna put that out there.

It was mutual.

And she was a communication professor, that was what my degree was in, was communication studies.

And Dr.

Harris was really antagonistic, actually, toward my faith.

She, I don't know why she was a communication professor, but she would spend a lot of time in classes kind of dogging on those of us that were believers, and so I didn't like that.

And in this one, this one semester I had a cultural communication class.

We were studying the different ways that cultures across the world communicate, not just the language, but the style and the priorities in their communication.

And the previous summer, Dr.

Harris had been on a sabbatical in Iceland, and she talked about Iceland every single class.

You know, we're studying Japan, we're studying Latin culture, we're studying all of these things in our textbook, we're going through it, all these sort of major cultures, but then every single class, she's like, Well, in Iceland, and did you know in Iceland and in Iceland and Iceland, every day, Iceland.

And so it comes time for the final, and we had this last class before our finals, and she said, You guys can ask me anything.

If you're just uncertain of something you need to know for the final, feel free to ask.

And so I raised my hand and I go, How much is there gonna be about Iceland on the final?

And her face communicated what all of you just did verbally.

Like it was obvious that that it she took that personally, and honestly, it was intended in that way.

And she she looked at me and said, That was rude.

And and you understand, I had an audience and I got a chuckle, and I as a class clown, I grew up as a class clown, it's a problem.

But like the younger version of me, like a chuckle, that's like fuel.

You know what I mean?

Like, keep going.

And so she said that was rude, and and I heard some people behind me chuckle, and I was like, Oh no, no, I was trying to be rude.

I just, you've talked a lot about Iceland.

I didn't know if that was information we needed to know.

Right?

Just keep going.

And she didn't respond to me after that.

She kind of just looked at me, and uh, and I I mean I put my foot in my mouth, I actually shot myself in the foot.

We'll use multiple metaphors because I had her for three more classes in my time in college, and she did not like me.

And you know the thing about it is like, I mean, she did talk about Iceland a ridiculous amount.

I'm just gonna put that out there.

And she was very antagonistic to those of us who were who were outspoken about our faith.

But I never actually thought in college, like, oh God, maybe you have me in her class, I don't know, to be a light, to to show her what Jesus is like.

Instead, I was just a jerk.

And and that's been a huge problem in my life, like with, you know, the Bible says, let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouth.

And I've treated most of life like unless it's funny.

Um, you know, like as if Jesus said, Hey, be really careful with what you say, unless, of course, it's funny, and then just anything goes.

That's been the way I've lived my life for a long time, and I'm learning.

But back in those days, especially in my you know, 19, 20 years old, man, if it was funny, fair game.

And I and I definitely in that moment I could tell I hurt her feelings.

I I humiliated her in front of her class.

I had no right to do that.

And my words, in that moment, they cut.

And they accomplished their purpose, but it also really ruined any opportunity I had to ever be someone who could speak into her life and maybe show her what Jesus is all about.

Like I messed up.

Our words can do that, and all it took was a question.

Gonna be anything about Iceland on the final.

That's all it took.

But on the other hand, our words can bring healing.

Like one statement from someone.

Have you ever had that happen where you're having a terrible day and one person just says one thing to you, and it changes everything?

Like your day's great.

Sometimes one comment, one compliment, one moment of just genuine curiosity and care and interest from another person can completely change the course of your day.

Sometimes it can change the course of your life.

Our words really matter.

What we say, it matters so much.

This is serious business.

In fact, let's look at some scripture to see just how serious this is.

I want to take you to an interesting story in Daniel chapter 4, and just a little bit of setup on this.

Daniel 4 · chapter mention

This has to do with a king named Nebuchadnezzar.

I'm not sure how familiar you are with Nebuchadnezzar.

Basically, the story goes like this the people of Israel were slaves in Egypt for generations.

God raised up Moses, he leads them out of slavery in Egypt.

They wander in this kind of desert area, the wilderness for about 40 years.

They end up going into a place called the Promised Land.

There's a series of battles, they win most of those, they become a power, they become an actual nation called Israel, but they're always at war with the Moabites and the Amorites.

There's a lot of ites, the Philistines, and this is sort of the way things go.

But Israel becomes an established power, and that sort of hits its peak with King David, with King Solomon.

But shortly after that, there's a split, and Israel divides into two nations.

There's Israel to the north and Judah to the south.

Israel really quickly drifts from God, and they get conquered by the Assyrians.

And then the Assyrians get conquered essentially by the Babylonians, and the southern kingdom of Judah ultimately gets conquered by the Babylonians, and Nebuchadnezzar, he's the king of Babylon.

And he's terrible.

And in Daniel chapter 4, we have this really interesting story.

Daniel 4 · chapter mention

It says that twelve months later, he, Nebuchadnezzar, was taking a walk on the flat roof of the royal palace in Babylon.

And as he looked out across the city, he said, Look at this great city of Babylon.

By my own mighty power I have built this beautiful city as my royal residence to display my majestic splendor.

While these words were still in his mouth, a voice called down from heaven, O King Nebuchadnezzar, this message is for you.

You are no longer ruler of this kingdom.

You will be driven out from human society.

You will live in the fields with the wild animals, you will eat grass like a cow.

Seven periods of time will pass while you live this way, until you learn the most high rules over the kingdoms of the world and gives them to anyone he chooses.

King Nebuchadnezzar loses his mind and is exiled.

And what's interesting about that story to me is like, if you know the story of Nebuchadnezzar, what he just said there is not that big of a deal compared to the other things he's done.

Like he's done some terrible things.

One time he made this statue of himself, and he said that everyone had to worship it.

And if they didn't worship his statue and worship him essentially, then they'd be executed.

And some of the captives from Israel who'd been brought to Babylon, uh, they refused to worship it.

Their names were Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, so he threw him in a fire, but the Lord miraculously saved him.

Like he did that, and God wasn't like, that's it, you're done.

Like he got a strong warning for that.

And then he just stands, you know, on the roof of his palace and he's like, Wow, look at how awesome I am.

Look at all that I've done.

And God's like, that's it.

It's interesting.

And God had warned him and given him a lot of opportunities to repent.

But it's just interesting that that phrase, that it was something he said, was so offensive to God.

Not something that he that he did.

Just what he said was so offensive to God that God was like, that's it, you're done.

Our words are pretty powerful.

They're serious.

Listen to what Jesus says about this topic.

Matthew chapter 12, verse 34.

Matthew 12:34

Jesus says, Whatever is in your heart determines what you say.

A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart.

And an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart.

And I tell you this: you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak.

The words you say will either acquit or condemn you.

Yay.

Who's feeling good?

We have grace, thank God, but but you you can tell right here what Jesus is saying is that what you say matters.

This is serious business.

A little bit later on, Jesus is is teaching and he fails to observe some of these dietary customs that they had, not the laws of scripture that they had, he observed those, but the Pharisees, these hyper-religious leaders, they had created all of these like hand washing ceremonies and all of this stuff about cleanliness.

And Jesus didn't really care about those because they were mostly dumb.

And so he just didn't do it, and they got all mad.

And they're like, You're defiled, you're defiled because you know you didn't wash your hands in the right way, and then you you ate that food, and Jesus uses it as an opportunity to teach.

And Peter ends up asking him afterwards, Matthew 15, verse 15, explain to us the parable that says people aren't defiled by what they eat.

Matthew 15:15

Don't you understand here?

Jesus asked.

Anything you eat passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.

That's basic.

Like you should, we should all understand that.

He's like, Peter, you don't, if you're not observed this, right?

But the words you speak come from your heart.

That is what defiles you.

For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander.

These are what defile you.

Eating with unwashed hands will never defile you.

It's what comes out of your heart.

And our words, what we say, it's deeply connected to our hearts.

This is serious business.

And so, with this in mind, with this idea of being intentional, of living on purpose with our words, and I'll be the first to admit, I fail at this and have failed at this as much as anyone has.

But I am compelled to be better.

I know that's what the Lord wants all of us to do, is to grow, to be more like him day by day.

There's something we call sanctification.

It's the theological term for just becoming more like Jesus as you follow him.

And we want to be like this with our words, with what we say.

So I want us to take a minute and just kind of look at a biblical perspective.

What if we had a biblical worldview of our speech, of what we communicate, and what it what it's really all about?

What it can be, both the good and the bad.

And I'll start with the basic statement.

Our words are powerful.

Your words are powerful.

And this isn't some like rah-rah, self-help, you know, you wow, your words are no, your words are truly powerful.

Let's back up for a minute.

God's words are powerful.

I think we could all agree with that if you follow God.

His words are incredibly powerful.

In fact, we we read in Psalm 33, verse 6, that the Lord merely spoke.

Psalms 33:6

And the heavens were created, he breathed the word, and all the stars were born.

We know from Scripture that God spoke the world into existence.

Some people would look at that and say, that's insanity.

That is craziness.

I think it's the coolest thing in the world.

In fact, there's this really cool science experiment I saw years ago.

I think I shared this one time.

Um, but I'm gonna show you guys this video and I'll explain it.

You guys can play it, and I'll just explain what's happened in this video.

Um, this is like salt that's being poured on this metal pad, and they're running different uh frequencies of sound onto the plate, and the different frequencies of sound are actually creating these different shapes and structures, so that it's just sound.

And these frequencies are are causing all of the particles to line up in these extremely specific ways, and as they change the frequency, it changes the shape.

It's it's really, really cool to watch.

It's kind of mesmerizing if you just stand and watch it for a second.

Here's what's cool about that, um, and you guys can can put that down.

Sound can create structure.

I just think it's really, really cool.

And God apparently spoke the world into existence.

And I think about it this way, I don't know if this is how it happened, but I'm like, oh, did God did He speak at every frequency, knowing that like that's the frequency that creates this molecular structure that becomes the building block for this type of element?

I just picture that, like God speaking the world to existence and not just saying words, but saying them at the exact frequency that he knew would create the structure needed to build that particular part of the world.

I think that's a cool thought.

Not sure if that's how it happened, but what we do know is that science has shown us, oh, actually, like sound can create something, can create structure.

And God spoke the world into existence.

I just think that's cool.

God's words created, and we are made in his image.

Genesis chapter 1, verse 26.

Genesis 1:26

God says, Let us make man in our image to be like us.

We were created by God to be like him.

You were created in the image of God.

We're supposed to be image-bearers, imitators.

He gave us dominion on this earth, he gave us the opportunity to live our lives in such a way that it's like we are we are doing sort of an impression of God, that we're living like him, that we have aspects of him in us that's supposed to come out.

And the reality is that God spoke things into creation, so can you.

Now you can't speak worlds and universes into creation, and if you think you can, you're crazy.

Um man, can your words create?

Like your words can create.

Your words are powerful enough to create.

And I'm not being cheesy, I mean this.

Your words can create hope.

Your words can create joy, your words can create confidence.

Have you ever had someone speak confidence into your life?

Like they said something to you that just sort of raised the way that you saw yourself or felt about yourself, and it gave you a confidence you had never had before.

Like I have to give a big shout out to my fourth grade teacher, Mrs.

Allen.

Um, as we established earlier, teachers and me had an interesting dynamic, and it didn't start in college, started all the way in kindergarten.

Mrs.

Walker, she was a great teacher.

Um, but I was hard for her.

Actually, one time a teacher called my mom in tears because she could not get me to stop talking in class and she didn't know what to do.

And my mom was like, I have no idea either.

She's like, That's why I send him to school for just a break.

I just I talked a lot, and I just I don't know what it was about me as a kid.

I was, I, I wasn't trying to be disrespectful, I just genuinely thought that you know I should be the one with the audience in class, I guess.

And that was hard on teachers.

And so, Mrs.

Walker, kindergarten, she had this system where she put check marks on the board, and check marks were bad.

And I'm pretty sure I still hold the Springfield, Missouri record for check marks in a single school year.

I remember it got so bad, it was just because I talked.

Um, it got so bad that my dad told me one day, if I didn't get a check mark, he'd buy me a toy on the way home.

And I still remember this to this day.

I couldn't have been, I was six years old.

And I remember I got a check mark with like 15 minutes left, and I just was like, no.

You know, just defeat.

Second grade or first grade after kindergarten, first grade, Mrs.

Gershevsky, she was wonderful.

She was really sweet, but again, I talked a lot and it was hard.

And so she had a desk that she put by her desk, away from the other kids' desk.

She called it the island, and I was a citizen of the island.

I spent a lot of I lived the island life.

I'm just telling you.

It was a it was great.

Um, I lived at the island basically.

Second third.

Third grade were rough, Mrs.

Tetters in second grade.

Mrs.

Krebs was my third grade teacher.

She was as nice as her name sounds.

She was horrible.

And uh just put it out there.

Nothing redeeming about her.

I once peed my pants in third grade because she had a one bathroom use per day policy, and I used it early.

And then I was like, I gotta go.

And she was like, You can't, you used your break.

But I was like, I really need to go.

And she wouldn't let me go, and so I just went.

Um that happened.

That was great.

That was great for my social development.

Um and then we moved.

We moved across town, fourth grade.

I got to start over at a school where none of the kids knew that I peed my pants.

It was great, it was a new start.

And I had Mrs.

Allen, and I never had a teacher like Mrs.

Allen.

I did okay in school, like up to that point.

I was, I my grades were fine, I guess, but I didn't like school.

I didn't think I really belonged at school, I didn't enjoy it.

And Mrs.

Allen was just different.

And really early, Mrs.

Allen told me something.

She told me one day, she goes, Justin, you're a really good writer.

I really enjoy reading what you write.

Maybe she was trying to get me to write instead of talk.

I don't know.

Looking back, it's pretty brilliant.

But you know, something my mom had talked to me about that.

My mom was always like, You are such a good writer, but you know when your parents tell you something, you're like, Yeah, yeah, whatever.

Uh, and then someone else tells you the exact same thing.

Those of you with kids, you know that.

Your kids will be like, so-and-so told me this today.

You're like, I've been telling you that for years.

I've been saying the same thing for years, and it means nothing, and that's just the way it works.

But Mrs.

Allen said, You're a really good writer, you should write.

And something about just that simple phrase created this passion and confidence in me, and I started writing all the time, and I would write stories and I would write poems.

I think everyone in my family got really tired of having to read what I wrote.

But I just I kept writing and writing and writing.

I remember when I was 12, I wrote, I had a subscription of Basketball Digest.

It was this magazine, and I wrote into basketball digest, and I got published, 12 years old into basketball digest.

They they are now defunct, so it's not that exciting.

But that was the first time I had something that I wrote get published, and then when I was in in high school, I had a teacher come up to me and say, Hey Justin, there's this writing competition, and it's this like big statewide thing.

We want to enter you into it as a school.

And I was like, okay, and so I did it, and I won the local thing, and then there was a regional thing, and I won that, and then I won the state competition.

I was the Georgia state champion of argumentative essay writing.

No one cares.

No, no, no, no, no.

That's listen, my senior year, my high school coach in basketball was we were we were trying to win state, and he would kept telling us, none of you are state champions yet.

And I was like, actually, coach, I am uh still waiting on the banner to be hung in the gym, but uh argumentative essay writing, you know.

No one really cares about that.

But it was great on a college resume, and then that led to things in college.

Then I was a sports writer, and I got to write for a lot of cool uh publications and and have cool experiences, and even to this day, I write all the time.

Every message that I give is a writing experience for me.

At some point in the week, I sit down and I and I write.

I bet every three months I write the equivalent of a book, and I've done that for 20 years now.

And all of that I can attribute to this fourth grade teacher who just said to me, instead of, which most teachers were like, please stop talking.

Instead of saying that, she was like, I love to read what you write.

You should keep writing.

And that statement created so much of my life.

And I just have that one person to think.

That's that's the power of your words.

Your words can create.

Do we use our words for that purpose?

Do we do we look for opportunities to say things to people?

To say what, maybe even to pray and say, Lord, do you have something that you want to say to this person?

And could you use me to speak into their life?

To this day, one of my biggest regrets, and thankfully God gave me a little bit of a redo, was when I was a youth pastor here, I had a girl in the youth group that had I'd known her since she was in elementary school, and she was hard.

But so was I growing up.

So we had something in common.

But she was hard in a different way.

She was hard, like she would look at you, and you could tell with her eyes that she thought you were stupid, and and you felt stupid looking at her, so you just kind of like avoided her.

You could be like terrified of a 14-year-old girl, it's possible.

Um she was just tough.

But this one day we were we were worshiping with the students.

And I actually think Matt, who's our our normal worship pastor, Matt, uh, he's not here today, but Matt was leading worship, and for whatever reason, I looked over and I saw her, and I felt very, very strongly that God wanted me to say something to her.

And and I didn't want to.

And what I felt like the Lord wanted me to tell her was that she was going through a lot of stuff in her family, her parents were splitting up, and it was really, really hard, and she I felt like she was just kind of being passed here and there.

And I just wanted God, I felt like God wanted me to tell her that He wanted her.

Like that God looked at her and said, I desire a relationship with you.

You're not someone that I'm trying to pawn off.

I want to know you.

Like God really wants to know you.

And that's what I felt like I was supposed to say.

But again, I'm telling you, this was the most terrifying 14-year-old girl you have ever seen in your life.

She could cut through you with her eyes, just her eyes.

And so I didn't.

I didn't do it.

I hesitated and I was like, I'll say, and then and then crazy thing, she really never came back to youth group after that.

It was really hard.

I really regretted that.

Then about 10 years later, I was here on a Sunday and I was talking to people after church, and I have a tap on my shoulder, and I turn around, and there she is.

And she had just come to visit, and I gave her a hug, and we talked for a minute, and asked her how she was doing.

She has kids now and all of that.

And then I paused and said, Hey, listen, I was supposed to tell you something when you were like 14, 15 years old, and I didn't.

And I'm so sorry.

And I told her what I felt like the Lord had wanted me to tell her, and she broke down in tears.

And that was great that God gave me the redo, but man, I wish I would have said that to her when God told me to.

Because God in that moment wanted to create something in her that was missing.

And I just, I don't know, I got nervous.

It's like the one time in my life I didn't say something.

Honestly.

Do you think about your words like that?

Do you do you think about the fact that you can say something, you can post something, you can you can allow your speech to be a creative force for what God wants to do in someone's life.

Think about it like that.

That's a big deal.

That's how powerful your words are.

But the opposite is also true.

Our words are powerful enough to destroy.

I'll go back to James.

James chapter 3.

James 3 · chapter mention

Verse 2.

For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.

We can make a large horse go wherever we want by the means of a small bit in its mouth.

And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong.

In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches.

But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire.

And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire.

It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body.

It can set your whole life on fire.

For it is set on fire by hell itself.

People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, but no one can tame the tongue.

It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison.

Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father.

Sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God.

And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth.

Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right.

Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water?

Does a fig tree produce olives or a grapevine produce figs?

No, and you can't draw fresh water from a salty spring.

He's saying that we are, if we belong to Jesus, we are compelled by God to let what comes out of our mouths, what we communicate, in whatever form we do it, to be wholesome and good and right and useful to God.

We're told in Scripture to build others up.

Proverbs chapter 6, verses 16 through 19.

Proverbs 6:16–19

There are six things the Lord hates, no seven things he detests: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong, a false witness who pours out lies, and a person who sows discord in a family.

At least three of those have to do with what you say.

A lying tongue, right?

Someone who sows discord in a family, someone who creates drama.

Gossip, slander, these are things that are listed in scripture in the same sentences is things like murder.

But gossip is so much more fun.

Right?

In fact, one of the things that I'm guilty of sometimes is um, I don't know if you can relate to this, I'll be like, I don't, I'm not, I'm not trying to gossip.

And then I gossip.

You ever do that?

You know, it's like when you say I don't want to cause offense, and then you say something offensive.

But I'll do that.

I'm like, I'm not gossiping, but here's some gossip, you know?

Or or making fun of someone, or whatever it is, especially when you're around people who you know will agree with you, and so it's just nice to feel justified in your opinion by being able to like say something bad about somebody else, and man, am I am I guilty of that?

Oh my goodness.

And the Lord, he despises that.

He despises that that our our speech is meant to create life in people, it's meant to speak life into people, it's meant to encourage, to build up, to strengthen, to give faith.

But our words are powerful enough to destroy.

And so what do we do?

Well, this is this is the opportunity that we have today as we submit our words to the Lord.

We submit to the Lord.

And one of the interesting things about my role is that I do a lot of funerals.

Um I think I've done over a hundred now, which is a really interesting thing.

It's it's given me a unique perspective on life.

I've got two in the next couple weeks.

And I remember someone said something once at a funeral, or in the aftermath of one, that I've never forgotten about.

And they said, Isn't it a shame that we save all the best words for the people we love until after they're no longer here?

And it's true, you know, sometimes just how life goes, you you you have all these things, you think about a person, and and when you see someone speak at a funeral, they're so intentional.

Like it's some of the most intentional communication you will ever hear is at someone's memorial service, and people think about it and they think hard about what they love about someone and all the things about that person that that bring them joy, and they share that with everyone.

And sometimes you wonder, did the person know that you felt that way?

Did they ever hear you say that?

And what a shame it would be if we saved all of the best things we've ever said about someone we love.

If we saved all of that until after they were no longer with us in this life.

We have an opportunity every single day to share things with people that will change their lives, that will encourage them, that will build them up, that will strengthen them.

We have this opportunity to be like Jesus.

I mean, that's there's nothing I desire more than to be like Jesus.

I pray that all the time.

Lord, make me more like you.

And Jesus would do that.

Jesus looked at fishermen and he said, I don't call you fishermen anymore.

Now you're fishers of men.

He made them disciples.

He lifted up their entire identity with what he said.

With what he said.

Imagine what it would have been like to be the woman who was caught in adultery and brought to Jesus and judged in front of all these other people and to have Jesus look at you and say, I do not condemn you.

Those words would have stuck with that woman for the rest of her life.

We all have the ability, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we have the ability to speak those sort of things into people's lives.

But we also have the ability to destroy.

It's just a matter of what we're going to choose.

And where it gets really difficult is when you realize that some of this stuff, some of the worst parts of us comes naturally.

It's actually sort of innate.

I see it in my own children.

Like even my daughter, Lily, is the sweetest human being in the world.

She is a rule follower, she is as sweet as can be.

And we were driving in the car not that long ago, and a song came on this playlist.

This is an 80s playlist, go 80s.

And uh it was I just want to dance with somebody who loves me by Whitney Houston.

And she's a dancer, my daughter dances, and so I was like, she'll love this song.

So I play it, and I was like, hey, Lily, I want to dance with somebody who loves me.

And she just looked at me and went, Guess you're dancing alone.

And I was like, What in the world?

And then she looked at me like, I'm sorry.

That just kind of came out.

I was like, wow, she's about to be a teenager, which is gonna be great.

But it was like in that moment, just naturally out of her, it was like burn, you know?

And that's so natur, it is so natural for us to dig and to cut and to burn and roast and all those kinds of things.

It's so natural for us to do that.

It comes from our hearts.

It comes from our hearts.

Like Jesus said, what comes out of your mouth is connected to your heart.

And so what do we do?

How do we change?

Ezekiel 36, 26.

God says, I will give you a new heart and I will put a new spirit in you.

I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.

God can change our hearts.

And if you want to see your speech transformed, if you want to see what comes out of your mouth transformed into something that's useful to God, if you'd like to see God use what you say and communicate to create life in other people, to create confidence, to create hope, to create joy.

If you want to be that person, you need your heart to submit to the Lord.

And the good news is that he can change your heart.

It's funny that verse, I had that in my my notes.

And then last night, my my son Judah got me this hat as a gift, and it has this verse on it.

And he didn't he didn't know that.

So I'm wearing this hat as a shout-out to Judah and also a reminder that this matters.

God can change your heart.

And if he changes your heart, what comes out of your heart changes.

And so to wrap this up and worship team, you can make your way out.

We'll take Lord's Supper together.

So if you've got bread and juice, grab that.

If you didn't grab that on your way in, by the way, if you're new, there's tables at the back with these little juice and bread cups.

We do this every single Sunday together as a church.

What you say matters, Jesus makes that so clear.

Our speech, it matters so much, it's powerful because we're made in the image of God.

And what you say has the power to destroy, but it also has the power to create, it's just up to us how we're going to use that.

Will we be people that submit our hearts to God and allow God to change us and shape us so that what comes out of our mouth comes from a good heart that's been changed by the Holy Spirit and it creates life in the lives of others?

Or will we just stick with our nature and be people who say whatever comes to mind, even if it cuts, even if it hurts?

It's up to us.

But we're not alone in this.

In fact, as we take Lord's Supper, this is a beautiful reminder of a few things.

Number one, obviously Jesus died for us.

This bread represents his body that was nailed to the cross, the juice represents his blood.

And listen, because of what Jesus did for us, if you put your faith in him, all of your sins, including those verbal sins that you may have created, those have been covered.

And so thank goodness that it's not only what you have said or haven't said that you're accountable to.

Like we were told we're going to give an account of what we've said, but because of the grace of Jesus, our sins have already been covered.

And so if you've said a lot of things you shouldn't have said, good news.

Jesus took care of that for you.

Thank him, and then live in response to that.

But this isn't just a memory of something that Jesus has done for us.

This is something that Jesus is currently doing.

Every single time we take this, just like when you take food in your body, it's working, it's doing something.

Jesus is at work in us, and he wants us to be people who speak the way that the way that he spoke.

Sometimes he spoke against evil, that's necessary.

He stood up for people, but Jesus spoke life into people.

He lifted people up.

He took people who thought they were on the outskirts, who thought they were far from God, and he showed them that they were the friends of God, and we can do the same thing.

So as we take this together, let's submit our hearts to God and let's ask him to make us like him and let our words reflect that truth.

So pray with me.

Father, we thank you for this bread.

This represents your son, his body that was given up for us as a sacrifice.

And that sacrifice covers us, pays the price for all of our mistakes, including those that we've uttered.

So, Lord, help us experience healing.

Be confident, Lord, that your grace is sufficient, your grace is all that we need.

We put our hope there, but Lord, I pray that what comes out of our mouths, as we take this into our mouths, I pray that what comes out of our mouths this week, that it honors you, that it encourages others.

Let's take the bread.

Now the juice.

Father, we thank you for this juice.

This represents the precious blood of your Son.

Jesus, you said, This is my blood.

Blood is life, and you give us life.

Help us speak life.

Help our words bring life into those around us.

Not destruction, not pain, not hurt, but life and joy.

We're relying on you, Lord, to do this.

Change our hearts.

Holy Spirit, work on our hearts and change us so that we can live this out.

We pray this in your name.

Amen.