From The Heart The Mouth Speaketh
by H. E. Phillips
“O generations of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for
out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good
treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the
evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, That every idle
word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned” (Matt.
12:34-7).
These are stinging words for most of us because we talk far more than we
should, and concerning the things that are evil. But Jesus said the mouth
speaks what
is in the heart. We are often told that we can not tell what is in a man’s
heart, but the Lord gave us a means of knowing if the man will speak. “Wherefore
by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matt. 7:20). Observe a man’s
conduct and listen to his words and you will know his heart.
Add to this the statement by James: “For in many things we offend all.
If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle
the whole body...Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things.
Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire,
a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the
whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of
hell” (James 3:2, 5,6).
There are several evil conditions of the heart that would never be known
if words did not come from the mouth. Envy, jealousy, hate, self-conceit,
lack
of love,
etc., come to light by our speech regardless of how much we try to keep them
hidden. Unjust and hurtful criticism is one of the most frequent of evil
speech. Paul said, “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil
speaking, be put away from you, with all malice.” (Eph. 4:21). James said, “But
if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against
the truth” (James 3:14).
Beware of the person who gets you to one side and begins: “Sister Blank
is a good woman, BUT...” This lead statement is presumed to make you accept
what is to follow as an awful truth which must be told. Beware of that person
who finds fault continually with every one of whom he or she speaks. Selfconceit
and jealousy make us require the conduct of all to be measured by our standards
only. Criticism of one’s friends, possessions, and habits is usually a
sign of envy and lack of love. When the very tenor of one’s language
about his brother or sister in Christ is fault-finding and ridiculing, you
mark it
down that person is not right at heart. If we have some criticism to make of
a person, let us go to him and talk about it. In that way some good can come
of it.
If we will strive to keep our tongues under control we can be a greater influence
for good and cultivate a better attitude toward others. Angry and evil words
hurt all men and help none; but words of truth and soberness spoken out of
a heart free of malice and bitterness help all and hurt none.
It is also a fact that wagging tongues spreading evil gossip will soon cease
in shame if ears will refuse to listen. Evil speaking is possible because
there are eager ears to listen to slander. Do not think that you can hide
the real
condition of your heart when you either speak or encouragingly listen to
slander and criticism of others. “But the tongue can no man tame; it is
an unruly evil, full of deadly poison” (James 3:8). “But if ye bite
and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another” (Gal.
5:15).
Jesus made another statement that should govern us in our language as well
as in other conduct. “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should
do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets” (Matt.
7:12). How would you like to have someone talk about you in the way you talk
about them? What would your estimate be of such a person as a Christian? Every
time you begin to speak of another person in a manner to discredit him or her,
stop and think if you would want them to speak so of you. If not, do not say
it! God will deal with us exactly alike in the judgment.
We believe that most people who talk about others in a hurtful and unjust
way do so expecting to make people think more of them. It never works that
way! When
you criticize another to a friend, he will know that you would do the same
to him if it served your purpose. We do not want this reputation. Let us
be careful
of our tongues and speech; our hearts are betrayed by our language.
Just remember that God will judge us for the way we use our tongues (language)
(Matt. 12:34-37). We shall give account to God for our language in this life.
- Preacher of The Word, July 21, 1996