Tony Evans - Watch Your Mouth: Understanding the Power of the Tongue

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS

EUGENE, OREGON

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the HCSB, Copyright 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. HCSB is a federally registered trademark of Holman Bible Publishers.

Verses marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Cover by Left Coast Design

WATCH YOUR MOUTH

Copyright 2016 Tony Evans

Published by Harvest House Publishers

Eugene, Oregon 97402

www.harvesthousepublishers.com

ISBN 978-0-7369-6060-1 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-0-7369-6061-8 (eBook)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Evans, Tony, 1949- author.

Title: Watch your mouth / Tony Evans.

Description: Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, 2016.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016000195 (print) | LCCN 2016004707 (ebook) | ISBN 9780736960601 (pbk.) | ISBN 9780736960618 ()

Subjects: LCSH: Oral communicationReligious aspectsChristianity. | RhetoricReligious aspectsChristianity. | Language and languagesReligious aspectsChristianity. | MouthMiscellanea.

Classification: LCC BV4597.53.C64 E93 2016 (print) | LCC BV4597.53.C64 (ebook) | DDC 241/.672dc23

LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016000195

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contents

A Greek philosopher once invited some very influential and powerful guests to his home for dinner two nights in a row. He told them he was going to provide them with the best possible meal on the first night and the worst possible meal on the second night.

When his guests arrived, the servant set before them a meal of smothered tongue. The guests asked why this would be considered the best possible meal.

The philosopher replied, The tongue is what we use to bless people, communicate happiness, dispel sorrow, and remove despair. We also use it to help the fainthearted, inspire the discouraged, and uplift all mankind. The tongue is the best possible meal.

The next night the guests returned to the philosophers home for dinner, this time expecting the worst possible meal. Yet once again the servants brought out smothered tongue. The guests were curious why the same entre was served twice, and they asked how it could be so.

The philosopher replied, With the tongue we break hearts, bring curses, destroy reputations, promote discord, induce strife, and set wars in motion.

In other words, you can use the very same thing to do good or to do evil. The same tool holds the power to do it all.

Im sure youve heard the saying, Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. That phrase is a lie. At some point in your life, you have undoubtedly been hurt by other peoples words. You have most likely also hurt people from time to time with your own words. Proverbs summarizes it this way:

From the fruit of his mouth a mans stomach is satisfied;

he is filled with the product of his lips.

Life and death are in the power of the tongue,

and those who love it will eat its fruit (Proverbs 18:20-21).

The tool behind your teeth, the tongue, can influence your world for good or for bad. It can bring life, or it can bring death.

The mouth and the tongue not only take things in but also produce things that come out. It goes in both directions. Your words will provide a helping of life or a helping of death because life and death are in the power of the tongue.

Power to Heal, Power to Destroy

In the book of Deuteronomy, we read of Moses speaking to the nation of Israel about this reality: I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live (Deuteronomy 30:19). When Moses says, life and death, he is not referring to killing people physically. He means they can choose to bring blessing or destruction through their choices, and that would include their choice of words.

Life is the enjoyment of the favor of God. Death is the removal of divine favor, leading to the death of a dream, the death of a relationship, or whatever. The same tool in your mouth can bring both. In a surgeons skilled hand, a scalpel can help preserve life, but a criminal can use the same sharpened blade to bring death. A wise doctor can use a syringe to promote healing in a sick patient, but a drug pusher can use the same syringe to cause death.

You and I have the power to bring blessing or a curse upon each other and upon ourselves simply through our mouthsthe ability to do both is found in it. You dont have to kill a person physically in order to ruin their life forever. Myriads of people have been wiped out by words. Proverbs 6:2 says, You have been trapped by the words of your lipsensnared by the words of your mouth. Our words can trap us. They can get us into situations we never should have gotten into. They can bind us in commitments we never should have made. The tongue can heal, or it can harm: The tongue that heals is a tree of life, but a devious tongue breaks the spirit (Proverbs 15:4).

Far too many of us use our tongues flippantly to voice how we feel or what we think, but do we use it powerfully? Your tongue is a tool that can create blessing and breathe lifenot only for yourself but also for those around you. But keep in mind, your tongue also has the power to bring death. We see both summarized in Proverbs 12:18: There is one who speaks rashly, like a piercing sword; but the tongue of the wise brings healing. And again in Proverbs 13:3: The one who guards his mouth protects his life; the one who opens his lips invites his own ruin.

Since your tongue is such an incredibly powerful tool, you can imagine why your mouth is like a battleground between God and the devil. There is a war for your words because through your words come life or death. Thats why I took the time to teach through the various aspects of the mouth and wrote about them here for youso that you will be equipped to use your mouth for good and discern when it could be used for evil.

Nuclear power can be very beneficial. We are able to improve our lives with this form of power by generating electricity, powering huge ships, and so on. Yet a nuclear bomb can also destroy an entire city. It can wipe out life altogether. The same is true for your mouth.

Unfortunately, though, many of us fail to realize how significant our speech really is. And so, over and over and over again, we speak words that bring ill health, death, and destruction. And then we wonder why we are depressed and hurting.

Speak life with your lips and watch life come about. When God wanted to create something, He used words. When Satan wanted to destroy something, he used words. Both of them used words in order to exercise their power. If you and I were to change the way we view our mouths and recognize the power of our words, we could literally change our lives for good. Just as you would be careful when handling a loaded gun, you would realize how important it is to be careful with a loaded mouth. You would ask yourself, Am I bringing favor into this situation, or am I bringing a curse? And then you would alter your speech accordingly so as to invite favor.