Do Your Best and Forget The Rest: Theology Of Speech

I have been doing P90X (13 DVD work out series) for a few months. Not the diet really, just the work outs. One of the expressions the leader says everyday is “do your best, and forget the rest.” He means you do the exercises and trust the results to come. I obviously don’t have enough faith in my abs yet.

But, in our speech and how we talk this is a good theology to have. You see we can’t control how others speak to us, we can’t control what they say, how they say it, when they say it, we control nothing. But, we do control how we respond. Responding as God calls us to with love, peace, compassion, kindness, self, control, goodness, and faith (Gal 5:22-23) means that we have to trust God to take care of the situation. Every part in us may be screaming, let them have it, yell, fuss, cuss, defend yourself! But, we know that all God’s rules come from a Father’s heart for our love and well-being. So, today you honor God in your speech and trust in God to defend you, vindicate you, protect you, and comfort you.

Jesus did. Read Mark 14:60-62, this is during the early morning mock trial he was subjected to before the Crucifixion.

Then the high priest stood up before them all and questioned Jesus, “Don’t You have an answer to what these men are testifying against You?”  (61)  But He kept silent and did not answer anything. Again the high priest questioned Him, “Are You the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”  (62)  “I am,” said Jesus, “and all of you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.”

Stay calm, trust God, give the facts. You can do it! Pastor Phillip

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Why Don’t You Listen?

I will resume writing about our speech on Monday. But here are two great quotes on listening. I find the more I listen with love and understanding the less likely I am to use “Idol” words and cause an argument. So seek to put James 1:19-20  in action today.

My dearly loved brothers, understand this: everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger,  (20)  for man’s anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness.

Good listening…improves your ability to understand others, it shows that you realize you do not have all the answers, and it tells the other person that you value his or her thoughts and opinions. Even if you cannot agree with everything others say or do, your willingness to listen demonstrates respect and shows that you are trying to understand their perspective. Ken Sande, The Peacemaker: A Biblical Guide to Resolving Personal Conflict, p. 165.

Attentive listening entails an eagerness to hear everything with regard to (another’s) thoughts, feelings, and experiences. It’s more than just keeping our mouths shut. Listening means making full eye contact, not looking around with a blank stare. We don’t interrupt, yawn, or prematurely formulate an answer. Careful listening will encourage (others) to bare their souls to us and share their innermost thoughts. Carolyn Mahaney, Titus 2: Express a Tender Love for Your Children.

I get these quotes from an amazing site worth ckecking out. It is called Grace Quotes.

Getting ready to head out to the lake with Cason. Pastor Phillip

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Do You Speek “Idol” Words?

When speaking to someone how much time do you spend wanting to be heard? In a argument with someone is your  sole goal to make sure you win? Do ever try to use your speech to manipulate situations for your own good? The answer if you are honest is probably yes. This means you are using as Paul David Tripp calls them Idol Words. Words that shows you place yourself ahead of everyone and everything. You words show that you have made your self the “Idol” in your life who you worship.Instead of you words having the God-like effect seeking to bring order, beauty, purpose, meaning, life, and worship to our world. They all have the effect of seeking to serve yourself, your idol.

So today refuse to worship yourself by speaking idol words, in stead seek to live out the example of The Word.

Philippians 2:2-8  Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one heart and purpose.  (3)  Don’t be selfish; don’t live to make a good impression on others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself.  (4)  Don’t think only about your own affairs, but be interested in others, too, and what they are doing.  (5)  Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had.  (6)  Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God.  (7)  He made himself nothing; [5] he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. (8)  And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal’s death on a cross.

Pastor Phillip

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Why Did God Send “The Word”?

My son is learing to argue. He is learning to tell us what to do and what he is not going to do. He has witnessed Rebecca and have some arguments (although as a rule we try and refuse to argue in front of him). But, we have never sat down and taught him how to argue and use words to put himself first, it is just passed down from generation to generation due to the sin of Adam we looked at yesterday. So, what does God due to remedy our problem with words? God sent The Word.

John 1:1-4  In the beginning the Word already existed. He was with God, and he was God.  (2)  He was in the beginning with God.  (3)  He created everything there is. Nothing exists that he didn’t make.  (4)  Life itself was in him, and this life gives light to everyone.

God sent his Son into the world to save us from our sins of speech and they are many. He calls His Son the Word. Why? The term “the Word” (Gk. Logos) conveys the notion of divine self-expression and speech. God’s Word is effective: God speaks, and things come into being (Gen. 1:3, 9; Ps. 33:6; 107:20; Isa. 55:10–11), and by speech he relates personally to his people (e.g., Gen. 15:1). So, in The Word coming we get to see how Jesus uses His words and we get a chance to be forgiven of our sins. Also, Jesus came to send the Holy Spirit to be God in us, because our problem is that bad. We will look further at the effect Jesus should have on our speech tomorrow.

So, today how will you allow The Word to affect the words you choose to use today. Pastor Phillip

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Where did our trouble with words come from?

Yesterday we saw that speech was a gift from God. It was intended to be used in the same manner God uses His speech and that was to bring order, beauty, purpose, meaning, life, and worship to our world. We accordingly are supposed to use our speech in a similar manner, but we fail at this goal daily.

What went wrong? Imagine in the garden of Eden, communication sin free as God intended it between Adam and Eve. It had to be amazing. But in one instant, Satan entered the picture and his mode of attack is words.He twists God’s words, he reinterprets words,  he casts doubts on God’s word. Read it for yourself below and focus on speech.

Genesis 3:1-6  Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”  (2)  The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden.  (3)  But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.'”  (4)  “No! You will not die,” the serpent said to the woman.  (5)  “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”  (6)  Then the woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

You see becuase Adam and Eve, doubted God’s word communtication has ever been cursed. Notice the next communicationt hat Adam and Eve have.

Genesis 3:11-13  Then He asked, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I had commanded you not to eat from?”  (12)  Then the man replied, “The woman You gave to be with me–she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate.”  (13)  So the LORD God asked the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “It was the serpent. He deceived me, and I ate.”

All of a sudden we see blame shifting, accusation and I can only imagine the fights that followed this. So, because of all this our communication has gone down hill ever since. God communicates Truth in His Word, Satan seeks to destroy truth with his words. So, let us follow the word of God and submit our speech to God.

Tomorrow we will look at the ultiamte solution to the problem with our words.

Pastor Phillip

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Why Are Words So Important?

A suicide’s body was found floating in a river and a note was written on her person. The note had only two words written on it: “They said.” Do we realize what a word from our tongues can do? It can wreck a local church, mar a child for life, disrupt the harmony of a business office and destroy a marriage. Derick Bingham, Encouragement – Oxygen for the Soul

Nothing has the power to comfort, challenge, provoke, sooth or enrage like words. But, why is this? Why is “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” so radically untrue. I think it is because all speech goes back to God. God was the first speaker. God brought all that there is by His words. His words brought order, beauty, purpose, meaning, life, and worship to our world. God gave us the Bible, His Word, to communicate meaning and truth to us today. So, our God is a speaking God and being made in his image means that we are speaking people. So, I believe that since speaking is a God-given ability and because it allows us to imitate God, then we must seek to submit our speech to God.

This is not always easy to do, I fail often. But we can take hope as 2 Corinthians 12:9 says  “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” If you have a hard time with you mouth, what a better way to show people God’s grace working in your life than to submit every word to Him.

So today before you speak try and think are the words I am going to say going to reflect the intention, the power,  and the purpose of God as he intended in giving us speech? Are your words going to promote order, beauty, purpose, meaning, life, and worship? I hope so.

By the way, during this series I will be blogging as I read War Of Words by Paul David Tripp. Good book so far.

Pastor Philip

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