A Heart For God!
“Even fools are thought wise when they keep silent; with their mouths shut, they seem intelligent.” -Proverbs 17:28
As leaders and Christians, our words have influence and carry the power of life or death to our teams. Just think about this, God shaped the world with His words! As leaders, we must NEVER forget that the power of our words flowing off our tongues WILL shape our teams.
When studying about the tongue, nothing gives away the state of our faith quicker than our speech!
When we are yelling, gossiping, mocking, screaming, spreading lies or accusing someone harshly; this speech is revealing what is in our hearts.
Jesus says in Matthew 12:34, “…For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”
We will speak whatever is inside of us. If we have good stored up inside of us, we will speak of good things. If we have evil stored up inside of us, we will speak of evil.
“Our tongues are restless evils, full of deadly poison. We will praise our Father with it and then curse our neighbor. “ – James 3:8-9
Reality check moment…many Christian’s still gossip, spread lies, and say hateful things but then praise God on Sunday morning. James taught this 2000 years ago and it still holds true today in our culture.
The only way our tongue will not rule our whole body is by transformation of our hearts through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Ezekiel 36:26– “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”
A dear mentor I had for years said to me often, “What’s in your heart will flow out your mouth.” This is “Jesus truth” and a motto to remember daily.
This little muscle in our mouth called the tongue can’t be tamed by ourselves per James. We do need self control and you may be able to stop your speech, but is the anger still inside? We need to get to the root source causing our tongue to speak bitterness, gossip, and evil. Jesus said the root… it is our hearts. (Luke 6:45)
In prayer, ask the Lord to search your heart and know your mind. (Pray Psalm 139:23-24) Let prayer help you release any anger, resentment, jealousy, or hate within you and replace it with LOVE. We want to become LOVE. #lovegoal
Praying this way is part of building an intimate personal relationship with God. Talk to God like no other being. He already knows everything anyway, so spill it – all of it! Write it down, get on your knees, cry out to Him. He will guide you and transform you BUT you have to ask. We can’t see our own weaknesses or evils within, but God can!! He will gently pull out the ugly.
Holding my tongue has been a struggle for me over most of my life. God knows me very well because he created me and we talk about my “tongue problems” often. For many years at work, I was called a feisty (Aka “B” word) woman who tells what she thinks. If you want people to follow you as a leader, this is not a good way to be described. I had to learn the hard way that my words can hurt people. I desired change so deeply and God has helped. Thank you Jesus for softening my heart!!
“They may not remember what you said. They may not remember what you did. But they will NEVER
forget how you made them feel.” -Maya Angelou
When situations happen that I just want to tell someone how it is… I now say to myself, “just breathe” and let the moment of anger be still and pass by. I have learned to stay silent, hold my tongue, and not react immediately. The thought of hurting someone with my words would not honor our God. I’m not perfect and fail often, but my number one desire is to honor God.
If the situation is really serious and I am truly hurt by someone’s words or actions…I take three days to pray, get in the Word, and talk with God before I respond. God teaches me His ways in the Word and helps me to respond in a much kinder way. Less of me and more of God. #becomeselfless
Transformation through sanctification is a daily thing, we will be transforming and changing within our faith until we die, it is NOT a one time change and then we are perfect. So be patient and keep moving toward God – toward LOVE. This is not a self help blog but a blog to really become self aware on how we speak to others, Jesus is our guide and teacher.
What a joy to know that we can have peace, joy, and love inside of us because of Jesus and not our circumstance. Praise God!!
As a leader within my career, if my heart is not right then my speech will not be right. Our words influence people or tear them down. Words matter so much as the speaker and the receiver. Be kind, stop the gossip, stop spreading lies, and start being an example of LOVE!!
So remember…”Just Breathe”…and hold your tongue when words are thrown at you out of hate or evil. On the other side when you speak, know our hearts can be transformed to flow LOVE thanks to the Holy Spirit.
“When the Holy Spirit purifies a heart, He gives self-control so that the person will speak words that please God.” -NLT Teaching Bible
We love you,
Rooted
#speaktopleaseGod #ourheartcontrolsourtongue #beKind #heartforGod
