Studies 7 and 8: The tongue – the rudder to success

“The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”(Proverbs 18:21).
Words carry power. We are created in the image of God. He created the heaven and earth by His Word, “He said, let there be light and there was light.” Words played the most vital part of creation, Genesis 1:1-2:4. Even today, God is “holding all things together by the word of His power”, Hebrews 1:3.

1.  The tongue should be under the control of the Holy Spirit at all times. Jesus’ was. Proverbs 17:27-28; Matthew 5:37; Titus 2:8; James 3:1-11.
2.  The tongue can be used as a weapon of warfare with the word of God, it is full of power. Hebrews 4:12.
3.  By getting God’s word deep into your spirit and speaking it boldly out of your mouth, you release spiritual power to change things in the natural circumstances of your life.
4.  You can control Satan’s activity in your life by learning to control your own tongue. This cannot be tamed with the same natural power that man uses to tame the animals, it takes spiritual power and spiritual power is what every born-again believer has at his or her disposal. John 3:7-8.
5.  What words you speak come out of the abundance of your heart, so fill your heart with God’s word then that will come out, because your heart is the key to your tongue. It has no choice but to speak words pleasing to God, from His word.
The uncontrolled tongue can do terrible damage, just as a forest fire is started by one spark (James 3:6) and cannot be stopped before doing great damage. We dare not be careless with what we say because, even if we apologise, the scars remain.

When our tongue is uncontrolled our speech is full of:

• Envy
• Selfish Ambition
• Earthly concerns and desires
• Unspiritual thoughts and ideas
• Disorder
• Evil

When our tongue is controlled by the Holy Spirit our speech is full of:

• Mercy
• Love for others
• Peace
• Consideration for others
• Submission
• Sincerity
• Impartiality
• Righteousness

Satan is still the god of this world and he has power in the earth over people, but Jesus has provided His Body of believers with the power and authority to overcome Satan in this world. We are not of this world so Satan is not our god, Mark 16:15-18. It is our responsibility to bind his forces and render him helpless. Through Jesus we have been delivered out of the power of darkness and moved into the kingdom of God (Colossians 1:13), but we have to stand our ground to keep Satan from robbing us of our victory, 1 Peter 5:8-9. What we are is what we say!

Prayer

Father, in the name of Jesus, I make the decision to take control of my tongue. I get rid of, and repent of every word I have spoken against You and Your operation in my life. I cancel the power of those words and dedicate my mouth to speaking Your word. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks; so I set myself to fill my heart with Your word. Put a watch, Lord, over my lips.

I set myself to speak in line with Your word. I confess that You are my Healer. I am filled with Your mighty Holy Spirit. I am the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ. I am victorious in every area of my life, because You have made me free.

Father I thank You that I will no longer be double-minded through the words of my mouth. I let the word of Christ dwell in me richly in all wisdom. Everything I do, whether in word or deed, I do in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks unto You. Colossians 3:16-17. Amen.

The Four Tongues
We have a choice to make in every area of our lives. If we start with putting God’s word into our hearts and then let it come out of our mouths, faith will rise and we will see the power we have in our own mouths. We must learn to think before we speak, always filtering what we want to say through the Holy Spirit. If what we want to say causes us to lose the peace in our hearts, then we should stop and speak out God’s word instead.

Proverbs gives special attention to words and how they are used. Four common speech patterns are described in Proverbs. The first two should be copied, while the last two should be avoided.

1.  The Controlled Tongue: Those with this speech pattern think before speaking, know when silence is best, and give wise advice. Proverbs 10:14-19; Proverbs 11:12-13; Proverbs 11:16; Proverbs 13:3; 15:1-4; Proverbs 15:28; Proverbs 16:23; Proverbs 17:14; Proverbs 17:27-28; Proverbs 18:4; Proverbs 21:23; Proverbs 26:17

2.  The Caring Tongue: Those with this speech pattern speak truthfully while seeking to encourage. Proverbs 10:32; Proverbs 12:18; Proverbs 12:25; Proverbs 15:23; Proverbs 15:26; Proverbs 16:24; Proverbs 25:15; Proverbs 27:9

3.  The Conniving Tongue: Those with this speech pattern are filled with wrong motives, gossip and slander, and they twist the truth. Proverbs 6:12-14; Proverbs 8:13; Proverbs 16:28; Proverbs 18:8; Proverbs 25:18; Proverbs 26:4-5; Proverbs 26:20-28

4.  The Careless Tongue: Those with this speech pattern are filled with lies, curses and quick-tempered words – which can lead to rebellion and destruction. Proverbs 10:18; Proverbs 10:32; Proverbs 11:9; Proverbs 12:16-18; Proverbs 15:4; Proverbs 17:9; Proverbs 17:14-19; Proverbs 18:21; Proverbs 20:19; Proverbs 25:23

Other verses about our speech include: Proverbs 10:11; Proverbs 10:20; Proverbs 10:31; Proverbs 12:6; Proverbs 12:17-19; Proverbs 13:2; Proverbs 14:3; Proverbs 19:5, Proverbs 28:25; Proverbs 27:2-5; Proverbs 27:14-17; Proverbs 29:9.

 

7: Living with Jesus – Challenge Questions

1.  Have you given God the best of yourself this week?

 

2.  a) Do you need to repent? b) Do you need any help to know that your past is behind you? (What verse of the Bible can you use to remind yourself of this fact?).

 

 

3.  Are there any changes God wants you to make, not from guilt but from a desire to improve your relationship with your most loving Heavenly Father?

Write your decision down so you can look back and see the wonderful changes God has helped you to make.

 

Read the notes about the tongue and as many references as possible

4.  What stands out from the notes most for you?

 

 

5.  Write down those verses that really speak to you.

 

 

6.  Have you got the message of how important the tongue is?

 

 

7.  If you have decided to take control of your tongue and only say what the Holy Spirit wants you to say, then do pray along the lines of the prayer in the notes, or in your own words, but make sure it comes from your heart!

 

 

8.  Are there any situations or people that you know you should change the way you speak about them, or words you use that could be changed to give life?

 

 

As you speak God’s Word you will see things change before your very eyes.

9.  Where do the words come from that come out of your mouth? (Luke 6:45)

 

 

10. What can you do in a practical way to tame your tongue?

 

 

11. Choose one problem area in your life ask God to show you from His Word His answer and write it down and learn it. Now every time you talk about it, talk God’s Word, not your feelings, or your opinion.

 

8: Living with Jesus – Challenge Questions

1.  Have you changed your speech from the previous study and have you seen things happen before your very eyes?

 

2.  Are you still having a difficulty in any area of your speech?

 

Read 2 Kings 4:8-37

3.  In what way would you have done what the mother did, and in what way would you not have followed her example.

 

4.  What do you think was the father of the boy’s attitude to the things of God?

 

 

5.  What attitude do you think the lady had to her husband?

 

 

6.  Can you follow the path of growth of the faith of this lady from the beginning of the story? Can you write down each step.

 

Our lives or the lives of our family may depend on the right thing coming out of our mouths one day and we need to study the Word as if our lives really do depend upon it, because it DOES.

7.  What are you going to decide to do today in order to change the priority of the Word in your life? Commit now to do your home challenges as soon as possible, so you can apply it to your life while it is still fresh in your mind. Think about the Word so much that it moves into your spirit (meditation) and then comes out of your mouth.

 

8.  Read Proverbs 18:21 Write this down and never forget this Truth.

 

 

9.  Read “My confession of who I am in Jesus Christ”, from ‘Life Lessons’.

 

Take it like a pill three times a day and very soon you will start to see how very special you are. Just like you don’t stop the treatment from the doctor if it does not have the desired effect immediately; so you keep going with your confession (agreeing with God) until you know in every situation related to yourself you have the mind of Christ!

These true and false questions go after Challenge Questions 08 covering both tongue modules.

Answer the following question with “True” or “False”. If you have a scripture from the study, please add this.