The Mouth Gate – What Am I Saying?
Mmmm, if there is a place where we all need serious discipline it surely is here. We can all agree that there is a whole lot of work to be done in this gate. Therefore, let us not waste time and leave it for another day, but let us start now with getting our tongue under control.
Before we start, I would like to share a scripture with you that God gave me many years ago. With this scripture He challenged me to change the way I was carrying myself as His child.
Isaiah 62:3 You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
So, this was the day I decided to change my way of speaking and behaving. The day I started “finishing school” for the Kingdom of Heaven. (I am much better now, but I am still watching myself daily!) The mere fact that God said I am a crown of beauty and a royal diadem in His hand made me seriously consider my condition as His child. I was thinking on how royalty behave themselves – royal people speak with grace, everything they do is done with excellence. I was thinking on what my actions looked like to others that were non Christians. Was there a distinction between being a child of God and being a child of the world? I was asking myself if I was really obeying Gods Word and living His Word.
We need to ask ourselves these type of questions so that we can challenge ourselves to really walk as God directs and not be deceived.
Yes, there will be times we will fail, but we should keep at it until it becomes second nature to reject ill behavior. The fact that we are working at it and being mindful of especially our way of speaking is already a huge milestone.
Let us look at the next scriptures. Keeping in mind what I just said.
Proverbs 11:13 (AMP) He who goes about as a gossip reveals secrets,
But he who is trustworthy and faithful keeps a matter hidden.
Ephesians 4:29 (NIV) Do not let any unwholesome talk (rotten, corrupt, foul) come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
Isaiah 58:9 (NIV) Then when you call, the LORD will answer. ‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply. “Remove the heavy yoke of oppression. Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors!
Beloveds, I think that we should really start listening to ourselves when we speak. We have become so used to a certain way of speaking that we don’t even realize that we are speaking ill and doing things that does not glorify God.
We are representing Heaven and we can not afford to still speak and joke around with filth on our lips. How many of us still listens or even tells jokes that are vulgar and we think it is very funny? How easy is it for us to swear at someone when we are angry? How many of us gossip about others, especially when we are offended by them? How many of us like to listen to love songs that are full of swearing or that is against the principals set out in the Word of God ? Isn’t it that we then have the same things in common with the devil and his ways? This is the way of his kingdom. We are in agreement with the devil when we do these things. How many times do we try to resist the devil in our lives but it doesn’t work? We then wonder why God is not helping us, but we do things that glorifies the devil and we lose our authority in Christ by our agreement with the devil. We need to come out of agreement with darkness. We need to watch what we say and do!
We love God and we want to walk worthy of Him. So, let us repent and change our ways.
My friends, we all are guilty, we fall short, but we can stop. It is a choice. We can choose whom we will serve wholeheartedly, not on our conditions but according to what the Word of God dictates. We cannot obey one part of the Word of God and reject the rest. We need to obey His whole Word.
For a while now I have been hearing these words in my spirit: “If you love Me…” – meaning:” if You love Me will You do as My Word commands, speak with grace, keep your heart from being hardened, not slander, criticize or judge etc.?
How about using this phrase every time we face something that is difficult without responding our usual way when we feel unsafe or triggered. Maybe what we need to do is to first recall these words “If you love Me” when we are offended, angry, feeling unloved etc. Maybe this will help us to stay out of the trap of the enemy.
So, how can we pray when I want to lash out, gossip or swear?
Example – Father, I am so angry, I want to swear, this person has been telling lies about me, but I love You and I want to honor You in all I do. Your word says bless those who curse you (you need to know what Gods Word says concerning certain things so that you can pray affectively) – I love You, so therefore I choose to bless this person OR I cannot forgive and bless this person, but because I love You I choose to give it into Your hands and I ask that You will please help me to be able to forgive them and let it go. Father my heart is hurting, will you please heal me in this area in Jesus name? We should always run to Jesus and talk our hearts out to Him. Tell Him about every emotion you have, just like you would when you tell a friend. This way is just much safer for you.
A Testimony
When my husband and I were young we went through a very difficult situation with people that were our leaders and that we looked up to. I don’t want to go into too much detail, but I want to tell you how God vindicated us because we kept our side clean. There was a lot of misunderstandings between us and them, so we did as the Bible directs, we went and spoke to them to sort everything out. It did not go well and they wanted to have more meetings. God spoke very clearly to us about NOT telling anyone else about the disagreements and hostile behaviors. God also didn’t want us to try to justify ourselves. He gave us a scripture that told us explicitly that there will be many meetings but it will come to nothing. So, we did not expect for the situation to be resolved in the meetings. Our expectations of how it would go was managed by the scripture God gave us. All we did was to trust God that it will work out the way He has intended it. Many times people would phone and asked what was going on and we would say we may not talk about it. With this situation we have learnt how God protects us when we don’t go around gossiping and telling people about what was happening and what pain we have experienced. We have learnt to only talk to God about our pain and struggles we went through with these people. It was Him and us!
We should not be deceived about what we think gossip is. When you tell someone about something that harmed you, that person that cares for you will take your side and will then get angry and have an attitude against those that hurt you. So, you are actually defiling that person and getting them and yourself in trouble in the spirit. We think we are only telling them about what is going on, but it is gossip and it is sin. You should keep it for yourself and report it only to Jesus. This way God can protect you because you are in the boundaries of His Word. We need to understand that the enemy will use anything we do or say against us to oppress and harm us. If you have something in common with him, moving in his spirit, he can attack you. Gossip, slander, judging, criticizing, pointing of the finger etc. are all characteristics of darkness and we can not fight darkness with darkness (witchcraft) or expect God to vindicate us.
So, long story short, God vindicated us wonderfully. The lesson was to keep quiet so that God could keep us safe from the witchcraft that was launched against us. We will only experience sickness, pain and oppression in a situation like this if we are moving in sin. We knew that we were talked about but we didn’t do the same, therefore, we did not experience sickness, disease or oppression in whatsoever way. This is how God can protect and vindicate us, we need to work with him and stay within the boundaries of His Word.
My friends, let us start getting serious about our way of speaking, operating and telling others about issues we have with other people.
Prayer – Oh, Lord Jesus, I repent of my ways. I repent that my tongue is loose and I have no control over it. I have been allowing myself for years to respond in a way that does not glorify You. I have a bad habit of letting loose my tongue when I feel threatened or when I am joking around. Please forgive me for not even realizing anymore that my tongue is out of control. I ask that the blood of Jesus will wash over my tongue, please disconnect my tongue from all evil speech, slander, gossip, criticism, pointing of the finger etc. Please remove speaking with bitterness from my tongue in the name of Jesus. I ask Holy Spirit to please convict my heart immediately when I am busy entertaining foul speech, gossip and slander again. I know I have to reprogram myself because this way has been grafted into me, but I am willing to change because I love You Lord. I choose to bring my tongue out of darkness and the control of darkness in the name of Jesus. I choose to give it back to You Jesus Christ. Please take full authority over my tongue in the name of Jesus Christ. I rededicate my tongue to you and I ask that Your Kingdom will come here in the name of Jesus. Father, please download these words “IF YOU LOVE ME” deep, deep into my spirit so that I will constantly be mindful of You in everything I do. I open my heart to receive these words and to respond to You my King and Savior, Jesus. May my life be a love song to You, Jesus, my deliverer, healer, redeemer and Savior. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen and amen.