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The Apostle Paul admonished the Corinthian church, which is an instruction passed on through the ages, to "act like men." This has been an exploration that's taken me down a number of winding paths. Only two main highways to cruise down, but each one has several side roads that have kept me sight-seeing, perhaps a little longer than I've sometimes wanted. Down the first highway of Courage, I discovered courage looks a lot like:
1) Doing the next right thing (or, "doing the work")
2) Being fully aware of God's Presence (or, paying attention)
3) Remembering God's Call on our lives (or, maintaining an anthem of steadfastness - "I am doing a great work, and I cannot_______________")
Those days of exploration were a bit easier than the days of hiking off the highway of Maturity. Here we've seen that maturity looks a lot like:
1) Changing our diet to solid food (loving the Word, digging into the Word, doing the Word - allowing God's Words to prove true & be enough)
2) Being more than a consumer, but a server (using our spiritual gifs to the full)
3) Loving those who oppose us (those who have different values, belief systems, traditions...our "enemies")
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Now's the time to look at another aspect of maturity. It's tucked away in the middle of the book of James (chapter 3, verse 2). Here it is:
"For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect (mature, complete) man, able to bridle his whole body (emphasis mine)."
The tongue - it is:
Restless
Inconstant
Unstable
Harmful
Injurious
Evil
Depraved
Filled with deadly poison
Capable of blessing and cursing
Untamable
A fire
A world of unrighteousness.
How many times have I spoken words I wish I could take back? How many times I have said to myself, "I need to just hold my tongue!" or "I've got to learn to just stay quiet?" I've even tried to take Thumper's advice:
I can be a pretty decent person, just don't get between me and my goal, or catch me under pressure, or criticize my family, or say something ugly that pushes my buttons...because I can transform into some unrecognizable, wild creature. I'd ask myself, "Where did that come from, but I don't have to, because I know the answer."
The tongue is simply a thermometer, an indicator, of....the heart!
Jesus said, "For by your words, you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."
Right before that, He said, "(We) will all give an account for every careless (useless, worthless, without value, idle) word."
And before that..."For out of the heart the mouth speaks..." (Matthew 12:34-37)
The comfort in all the hard truth is that that I'm not alone. It's not a struggle for me and no one else. It's a common disease of the heart. As James goes on, he gets right to it, and diagnoses the disease.
Bitter jealousy & Selfish ambition
I want to be you. Or more, I want to be better than you. And, I want to be fully in control. If I really had the layers of the onion pulled back, it's even worse (it's not about you at all), I want to be God. That's the root of the heart issue, and when I can't be God, my mouth betrays me. It shows the world around me my true colors.
It's the color of YUCK!
It's the color of SIN!
There's a correction for that...an eraser (like using toothpaste on a whiteboard)...John 1:9, of course. That's the start. Then there's a path to take for righteousness, James says it's found in "wisdom and understanding (James 3:13)." I'm right back to where I began: OH, HOW I NEED THE WORDS OF THE LORD! As I apply the surgery of truth to my diseased heart, the promise of the Lord is true: He will make me new!
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