Fill your mouth with life, not death

solodeogloria

Good morning!

I came across a challenging post on Desiring God this morning about what the Bible says about our speech.

I'll quote a bit here.

Today, make your mouth “a fountain of life” (Proverbs 10:11). Be “slow to speak” in general (James 1:19). Encourage more than you critique. Seek opportunities to speak kind, tenderhearted words (Ephesians 4:32). Say something affectionate to a loved one at an unexpected time. Seek to only speak words that are “good for building up,” that “give grace to those who hear” (Ephesians 4:29).

Be a person whose mouth is full of life.

I love how the Bible speaks into every area of life and I love how it challenges us to grow in maturity daily. That is my hope for everyone - to encounter the Lord Jesus through His grace and to be transformed into the likeness of His Son.

I fail all the time. But let's think about our words and lets build people up here in the Lord.

Much thanks in the Lord Jesus Christ,
solodeogloria

gillad

solodeogloria wrote: »

Good morning!


I fail all the time.

Much thanks in the Lord Jesus Christ,
solodeogloria

You should not put your self down with words like that.
It is negativity wrapped up in positivity.
Drop the negativity,there is too much of it in the world and we must drop it individually to begin to change the world.
I think jesus would agree with me:)

J C

gillad wrote: »

You should not put your self down with words like that.
It is negativity wrapped up in positivity.
Drop the negativity,there is too much of it in the world and we must drop it individually to begin to change the world.
I think jesus would agree with me:)

I don't think it was 'negativity' ... Solodeogloria was merely comparing himself to our omnipotent God and the extremely high standards that He would like us to achieve ... for our own good and everyone else's.

However, just like many things in life, we don't always achieve our objectives ... and then we have our all merciful and loving God to love and forgive us.

... and I know that Jesus agrees with me !

Thanks Solodeogloria for sharing those beautiful inspiring verses from Proverbs and Ephesians with us.

gillad

I had hoped solodeogloria would reply,but I am glad you have.:)
Some people (like me) will see and feel the negativity in saying"I fail all the time"...some people will not see it(like you).The important thing to remember is that negativity is not good for the world and if there are people that can see it/feel it where others dont,then this negativity must be stopped for the benefit of those that do recognise it.

The negative statement was surrounded by words of wisdom,but right in the middle of the words of wisdom were "words" that the wisdom had warned of:eek:
This is why I said it was negativity wrapped up in positivity.

The wisdom in Solodeogloria`s post was to be careful with your words so I felt it important to highlight the fact that the words were not given enough thought,perhaps "I try to do my best all the time" would be more suitable words for all."I fail all the time" will drive some people further from Jesus.:(
The wisdom in the post also said to speak with love and truth which is what I try to do ,but sometimes the truth can hurt so apologies to solodeogloria if you were upset by my insight.

Some times the preacher is preached to
Some times the teacher is taught and some times the healer gets healed.

solodeogloria

Good morning!

I think the point of the article is that we should give grace filled words in conversation even sometimes when we mightn't feel that they are deserved. Our speech should reflect Jesus.

Jesus however doesn't teach that we are good people on our own account but only through His death. Saying that I fail only makes that all the more true.

I'm saying that we should give gracious words to others because we've received grace upon grace in Jesus.

It's very telling that threads like this get few posts. Our speech is a day to day issue that I'm sure we all struggle with. Both internal and external speech. Yet often we prefer speaking about abortion and gay marriage before speaking about these practical every day ways we can serve Jesus.

Much thanks in the Lord Jesus Christ,
solodeogloria

gillad

I am gald you finally spoke to me.:)
Speech has become a weapon here on this forum.Its like a warzone here in this supposedly christian forum...Gay marriage,abortion,we all have different views and christian's should realise that the passion you feel for your views is the same passion that your opposer's have for their views....Nobody is wrong or right,its just that everybody has different circumstances and experiences of gay marraige and abortion...The preachers are preaching to those that dont want/need to be preached to, which is like throwing petrol on a fire.

We had this in the crusades and its still here,but we are not killing each other physically anymore just emotional and mental killing:(..........STOP! in the name of Jesus....STOP trying to ram the words in the bible down the throats of those that are happy in there lives
There are millions of people in the world that dont read the bible and they are happy.happy muslims,happy buddhists,happy hindus and believe it or not happy athiests:eek:

Christians that cause conflict are not good christians even if they have the bible in their hand.
Most people would rather have a chat with a happy athiest than a pushy christian
There is no need to convert a devout muslim as he has alredy found god.
There is no need to convert a happy athiest as he has already found god(he just doesn't understand god and may not need to)...Atheist's dont "sin" any more than religious people but some relious people cant grasp that.....You dont need to know all abot god if your life is a happy life because if your life is happy you are already connected to god.

The kingdom of heaven is within you....you wont find it on a forum and you cant force it down someones throat.Anyone that cause's conflict/bitter arguments(even with a bible in their hand) has not found the kingdom of heaven and I would urge those to drop their weapons,turn the other cheek and seek the kingdom of heaven within...those that have found it will understand and i urge those to speak up about this "war/crusade"

Was Jesus pushy in his teachings?...I dont know but I doubt he was as pushy and inconsiderate as people here claiming to be on his side.
To sum up everything,Stop the crusade,stop using the bible as a weapon(a mortal sin,maybe)let people express their opinion without judgement,be considerate of others feelings and circumstances,show some love,dont be a hipocrite and as this thread title says "Fill your mouth with life"

If these words seem harsh to some,it is because the words are reflecting the harshness in you that you cannot see.....yet:) open your eyes and your heart.

smacl

gillad wrote: »

STOP trying to ram the words in the bible down the throats of those that are happy in there lives. There are millions of people in the world that dont read the bible and they are happy.happy muslims,happy buddhists,happy hindus and believe it or not happy athiests:eek:

Well said. This happy atheist is off for a beer now, y'all have a good weekend

Nick Park

gillad wrote: »

I am gald you finally spoke to me.:)
Speech has become a weapon here on this forum.Its like a warzone here in this supposedly christian forum...Gay marriage,abortion,we all have different views and christian's should realise that the passion you feel for your views is the same passion that your opposer's have for their views....Nobody is wrong or right,its just that everybody has different circumstances and experiences of gay marraige and abortion...The preachers are preaching to those that dont want/need to be preached to, which is like throwing petrol on a fire.

It's a discussion forum. If you don't want people to discuss their differing views then you're sort of missing the whole point.

solodeogloria

Good morning!

I don't think that's what I meant.

Jesus didn't die for nothing. If Jesus didn't mean anything and if we don't need Him our lives as Christians would be lot easier. Since Jesus came to rescue us from judgement a key part of the Christian life is about bearing witness to others. It wouldn't be loving not to give people the opportunity to repent.

Giving grace to others in our speech points to the grace that our Lord Jesus gives through His death and resurrection.

I know this is an unpopular point but it is a lie to say that people don't need Jesus. They do and that'll be seen on the last day. If a Christian doesn't long for others to know Jesus that means they hate others.

Much thanks in the Lord Jesus Christ,
solodeogloria

smacl

Nick Park wrote: »

It's a discussion forum. If you don't want people to discuss their differing views then you're sort of missing the whole point.

Agreed, though my reading of gillad's post was an objection to rhetoric as opposed to discourse. Preaching, particularly proselytising, in my opinion is largely rhetorical as the preacher will not be willing to change their dogmatically held beliefs. Most of the more vitriolic posts here tend to be by those with the most staunchly held positions who object to their beliefs being questioned (not pointing at Christians in particular here, applies equally well to staunch atheists / pastafarians etc...).