On
Sunday, we saw that our hearts are the wells from which our words are
drawn. The things that we speak
come from that which fills our hearts.
In the case of the Pharisees, they spoke blasphemous words because they
had blasphemous hearts. Many of us
tend to minimize the significance of the words we speak, but the Lord taught us
in Matt 12:33-37 that our words are the surest indicators of the condition of
our hearts.
Think
about what your speech says about your heart. If your speech is characterized by criticism, what does it
say about your heart? You have a
critical heart. If my speech is
characterized by complaining or murmuring or grumbling, what does that say about
my heart? I have a heart of
ingratitude. What if your speech
is characterized by boasting? What
about the subtler form of boasting – talking about yourself all the time? What does that say about your
heart? Your heart is filled with
pride.
Asking
ourselves questions about our own speech can be a helpful diagnostic tool, but
as with any other habitual sin, sinful speech can become so routine that we do
not even notice it in ourselves.
For that reason, it is wise to ask someone who is close to you help you
see if you have a habit of ungodly speech. Invite them to be honest with you. Do I have a tendency
toward critical speech? Do I have
a tendency toward complaining or gossip or boasting?
But
what do we do about it if we find that our hearts are filled with these
things? Our inclination will be to
just deal with how it is manifested in our speech. If we are given to critical speech, we try to stop saying
critical things. If we are given
to complaining and grumbling, we try to stop that and start expressing thanks. If we are given to boastful speech, we
stop talking about ourselves and talk about other things instead.
But
does that really fix the problem?
No, because the problem is the heart. We can’t make an apple tree into an orange tree by cutting
off all the apples and stapling oranges on instead. Eventually, the apples are going to grow back. The same is true of our speech. If we try to merely deal with the
outward manifestation, we will not see lasting change. Our hearts need to be transformed.
Fundamentally,
that happens when we are regenerated.
We are given a new heart, but we are not completely sanctified, that is,
we are not completely like Christ in our character and conduct. Yet in that act of regeneration we are
given the tools necessary to be sanctified. We are given the Holy Spirit. We are given the desire to change. We are given the ability to understand and use God’s
Word.
Once
we have been regenerated, how do we appropriate those God-given tools to become
like Christ? How do we kill
pride? How do we kill
ingratitude? How do we kill a
critical disposition? First, we
need to pray. We need to pray for
the Lord’s help, for a desire to obey
and change, and for the ability to
obey and change. We need to do
that because we must recognize that in ourselves we cannot do it. Our sanctification is empowered by the
Holy Spirit. Daily prayers of
dependence upon the Spirit are necessary in our fight against sin.
Second,
we need to be growing in our worship of Christ. Any heart problem is a worship problem – there is something
that I am desiring so much that I am willing to sin to get it. A key to overcoming sinful desires is
to grow in our desire for the Savior.
The epistles motivate us to walk in obedience by first teaching us the
gospel – what God has done in Christ to save us from sin. It follows that in our fight against
sin we should keep this gospel before us daily. This could include feeding our minds with gospel-rich
passages of Scripture, listening to gospel-rich music, or reading gospel-rich
books. (Click here for some
specific recommended resources.)
Next
time, we’ll continue with other steps in the process of dealing with sinful
speech and the heart problems that cause it. In the mean time: (1) ask a friend to help you evaluate your
speech; (2) pray for the Lord’s power to help you deal with any issues you
find; and (3) begin meditating on Christ’s work in the gospel that freed you
from sin’s penalty.
Posted by Greg Birdwell
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