Influencers Weekly Devotional

Abide with ME

Abiding Emotionally - Part Two

Taming the Tongue

SCRIPTURE: “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness that God requires.” James 1: 19-20 Thought: There is a direct correlation with righteous behavior and the control of our anger and its expression, which is the words that come from our anger. James, the half-brother of Jesus, writes “be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.” This is a good rule to follow and will help us keep angry words in check. Application: I have mentioned several times a quote that has guided me the last several years. It goes like this, “I have said many things which I have regretted. But, I have never regretted something that I chose not to say.” Another wise proverb I might add says, “When a word goes out it cannot be recaptured. No matter the repentance of the speaker, or the grace of the hearer, a reckless word will cause damage in some way.” Evidently it is clear. If I want to grow in my Christ-likeness, and act with righteous behavior that pleases Him, I’ve got to bridle my tongue. Some would argue that Jesus got angry, using this as an example as they seek tacit approval for their own lack of self-control. They will say that there is a time for righteous anger and defend themselves by claiming their anger as righteous. But look closely at Christ’s anger, and you will see His anger was against evil systems and established rules that were contrary to God’s system and rules. Even the Money Changers, who saw Christ’s anger firsthand, knew He was against what they were doing, rather than against them as persons. Jesus was against the financial enterprise going on in God’s House, and watching it freely function angered Him. His was a true righteous anger. So, before we put our anger in a category of being a righteous anger, consider whether our anger is against an evil system someone is involved with, or is it the person who angers us more? Jesus was angered by the evil systems that were in operation in His day, and yet, He died for the people who ran them, such as the Money Changers, the Pharisees, and the Romans who nailed Him to the cross. You see, righteous anger has within its core an element of redemption, as Jesus holds out hope that the hearer will hear, learn and turn from his or her ways, and come to Him. For us to see anger-provoking situations in a godly way, we must allow Christ’s point of view to filter our thoughts and strain our words through His Spirit, for it is this process that keeps our reckless words in check. However, it only happens when we submit to His will over our own. How can this happen? Consider if you will the character of Christ, and the way His characteristics controlled his emotions, rather than His characteristics being controlled by His emotions. His characteristics are clearly stated in Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” Jesus was an emotional man, for He showed His emotions when He wept, when He was angered, and no doubt, with laughter. However, He never allowed His emotions, especially His anger, to ever change His character. His filter was simply who He was, and that kept His anger righteous. In the same way, when we abide in Jesus, as mentioned in John 15, we have His characteristics going on in us, controlling us. Abiding in Christ acts as our filter and as a check valve that keeps us from exploding in anger and from speaking words that we will regret. However, as said before, we must submit to Him. When we abide in Christ, we engage our emotions in a love relationship with Him. However, it is not a one way street. We may think it has to be all our part to connect with Him and to create a transformed life for ourselves. On the contrary, Jesus engages His emotional involvement with us, as well, and we experience His friendship and indwelling. It becomes for us a journey with Him, and the deeper we abide in Him, the more His characteristics become evident in us and the more our flesh nature is checked, including the misuse of words. If we are committed to this kind of relationship with Him, I have found that the use of our words will become a major blessing to someone, as Christ ministers to them through us. However, if we are not truly and authentically committed to an abiding relationship with Christ, it will be evident in our anger and words. It will reveal an inward condition going on that needs immediate attention. If we will go to the root problem, which deals with our fellowship with Christ, rather than trying to simply control our tongue by our willpower, we will have His help. He will help us tame the tongue and allow it to be a blessing rather than a curse. Reply: Lord, I ask You to tame my tongue, so that all I say will bless rather than curse, build up rather than tear down, challenge rather than crush, and heal rather than harm. This can be done only one way, which is found in my abiding relationship with You. Therefore, I ask You to abide in me, as I abide in You, and then we will be able to control that which is uncontrollable by me alone. Allow my words to bring You great pleasure my Savior, instead of pain to others, and insult to You. It is in Jesus name that I pray, Rocky TO DOWNLOAD A COPY OF THIS DEVOTIONAL, CLICK HERE