TOPIC:“The Tongue and the Conscientious Christian”
“Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may
know how you ought to answer every man” (Colossians 4:6)
A wise old philosopher once said, “Give not thy tongue too great liberty, lest it take thee prisoner.” The tongue - how small, and yet, how deadly. Words - how useful, and yet, how damaging. Speech - how indispensable, and yet, how destroying. Have you ever thought about it that way before? Well, if you haven't you should for the sake of yourself and other people.
To be sure, the Apostle Paul was keenly interested in this matter of the Christian and the use of their tongue. So much so, that he takes time out in this letter to show these Colossians that there was a Christian way to speak and carry on a conversation. Paul knew that there were those Colossian believers who had to discipline their tongues and make their speech Christian in everything they had to say.
I ask, what should be the responsibility of every Christian regarding their tongue? Let us notice what the text has to say bout the use and abuse of the tongue.
Consider, to begin with, a form of speech according to Paul that must be PROHIBITED. We hear this first-century Apostle state quite emphatically these words: “But now you also put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth” (3:8). Weymouth renders these words to read: “But now you must rid yourselves of every kind of sin - angry and passionate outbreaks, ill-will, evil-speaking, foul-mouthed abuse - so that these may never soil your lips.” Here, then is a command for every one of us to follow.
Have you ever given thought to some of the different ways that men hire out their tongues to the services of Satan? Here are just a few.