City Life Starter

I. The WORD

Proverbs 18:1-8

“A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire;

He rages against all wise judgement.

A fool has no delight in understanding,

But in expressing his own heart.

When the wicked comes,

contempt comes also;

And with dishonor comes reproach.

The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters;

The wellspring of wisdom is a flowing brook.

It is not good to show partiality to the wicked,

Or to overthrow the righteous in judgement.

A fool’s lips enter into contention,

And his mouth calls for blows.

A fool’s mouth is his destruction,

And his lips are the snare of his soul.

The words of a talebearer

are like tasty trifles,

And they go down into the inmost body.”

Matthew 12:36-37 “But I say to you that for every idle word men speak; they will give account of it in the day of judgement. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Reflection Questions:

1. Do you talk more than you listen? Or listen more than you talk?
2. Just because you can say what you know, should you actually say what you know?
3. When you speak with others, are you speaking in a hushed tone? Or in your regular voice?

By Heather Mattingly

Who of us stands innocent of gossip and slander? No one. If you feel uncomfortable about this topic, you are not alone; the Bible says, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23). But even though Jesus’ eyes are “like a flame of fire” (Rev 19:12), He is not here to condemn you or burn you or beat you down. Quite the contrary: He came to save you and died for you! (John 3:17). Your words reflect Him. He wants to use your lips for His glory. But how can we do this practically in our daily lives?

One of my personal “heroes of the faith” is my father, and one of the things he still says consistently is, “God gave us two ears and one set of lips for a reason: to listen twice as much as we talk.” Even the Bible says in Proverbs 18:2 above that a person who has “no delight in understanding, but in expressing his own heart” is a fool. If you know something about someone else or hear something about someone else, this is a golden opportunity for you to be a True firefighter and put out a fire of destruction, for that is what gossip is. How do we do this? By just what Pastor Chris said: establishing boundaries. Boundaries are good, and a mark of true love. Boundaries are not something done to us, but for us. Your first challenge today: if/when you hear gossip, or know something about someone, internally ask for help: say, “Holy Spirit, what, if anything at all, do You want me to do about this situation? Please help me let only Your life come from my lips today.”

But, how do you know if you are gossiping? Challenge number 2 for today is to let Holy Spirit catch you and help you if you find yourself in a potentially dangerous situation. A good litmus test to query yourself if you are gossiping is this: would you be comfortable if your words were shouted from the rooftops?

Jesus cares about our words. He tells us that we will give account for every idle word we speak on the day of judgment (Matt. 12:36-37). That word “idle” in Greek is “Argos” which means “inactive, unemployed, lazy, useless, barren, shunning the labour which one ought to perform.”

Are your words performing the work Jesus (and you) want them to do? Or are they “Argos?” Only God’s Word can save us from ourselves; His Word says, “He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions” (Psalm 120:7).  If you speak God’s Word, by the prompting of Holy Spirit, then your words will indeed be fruitful and full of life, and not be idle, or “Argos.” And you speak God’s Word by getting into God’s Word – reading it, studying it, making it part of your daily life, talking to others about it and what God is saying to you. The Bible is the only book where the Author is in love with the reader; God is in love with you. Get into His presence; get into His word, and let His words get into you. Then, you will find that His words will flow out of you without you even being aware of it.

Prayer:

“Father, please use my lips to glorify You; show me how to speak Your words. ‘Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips” (Ps 141:3). Please give me a hunger for Your Word, the Bible, like never before. Help me to let You, especially Your words, inside all of me; I surrender to You anew again today; I am Yours. Please help me, Holy Spirit, to glorify You.”