“.. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” – Matthew 12:36.
Sins Of The Tongue
2019-June-5 . . . By: ncdm
Saint Anthony of the Desert -[251-355, Egypt]-, the first ever Christian monk, dubbed as the “father of all monks”, was a wealthy man who sold all his possessions and gave to the poor, then headed off to the desert to a life of reclusion. Despite that, he was followed by pilgrims seeking his “wisdom and healing”. When asked why he chose isolation, his answer was: “at least I avoid the sins of seeing, thinking, and speaking.” Soon, some of his believers joined him, and also became monks. St. Anthony of the Desert – [wikipedia]
NOTE:— Anthony’s statement about “the sins of seeing, thinking, and speaking” refers to the Bible verse: “anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” – Matthew 5:28 -. It expounds the seemingly ‘common instinct’ that at the sight of a sexy woman, one would likely have this nasty imagination that “she must be hot and playful in bed, etc . . .” and this thought may likely come out of his mouth as “careless words”. Indeed a lustful look delights the flesh – it’s a case of ‘purity of intention’.
When the LORD showed heaven to Prophet Isaiah, he cried out:
“.. Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” – Isaiah 6:5.
When the Israelites faced the Red Sea on one side and Egypt’s army on the other, it was pandemonium, and they were shouting blames and invectives against Moses. But Moses commanded them, “the LORD will fight for you, just be silent !” – Exodus 14:13..
Indeed even the Prophets and the Saints were not immune from the errors of this wild and impulsive tongue. They pretty well understood its nature: the tongue is the “untamed beast”.
“.. When we put bits into the mouth of a horse to make it obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder. Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell; . . All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.”
– James 3:3.
Soon, man will have less use for his tongue. After the Tribulation, i.e., the three days of darkness, people will be communicating through mental telepathy. The cellphone, the greatest tool of the Illuminati to control mankind, will be no more. Mga kapatid, you must repent now, the Tribulation is now on the horizon.
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“keep a tight rein on your tongue” – James 1:26
“.. things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them; for out of the heart come evil thoughts – murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander…” – Matthew 15:18.
This articulation below was taken from Sins of the Tongue – by Bishop Stevens [biblehub.com].
1. GOSSIP: — The first tongue-sin which I will name is that of tattling; by this I mean a thoughtless, trifling, heedless talking. There is a process in chemistry by which you can arrest the invisible gas, and weigh it, and separate it into its constituent elements; and were there moral re-agents by which we could arrest the gaseous tattle of these busybodies, and resolve it into its elements, its constituent parts would be folly, slander, falsehood, flattery, and boastfulness.
2. SLANDER: — The second tongue-sin is slander. Under this head I enumerate backbiting, or speaking evil of one behind his back; defaming one’s good name by absolute or implied censure; detraction, envious jealousies, secret whisperings, and innuendoes, and all other ways by which the tongue wounds and injures the name and reputation of another. The devil, then, is, as Christ says, “the father of lies”; and every one who gives his tongue to slander, and maligns his neighbours, or utters words of falsehood or detraction, comes into the class of those false accusers, those Diaboloi of which Jesus truly said, “Ye are of your father the devil.” The grossest kind of slander is bearing false witness: that is, saying a person did things which he did not do. This false witness is sometimes spoken openly, sometimes in secret, but always with malicious intent; and in every instance the tongue which utters it, not only setteth on fire the course of nature, but is set on fire of hell. Another way of slandering is to impute false motives to good actions. When we say of a liberal man that he is vainglorious; of an active man in Church affairs, that he is a Diotrephes; of a prudent man, that he is miserly; of a devout man, that he is hypocritical. Another way is to distort views, words, and actions; giving them a false construction; suppressing what might appear good; magnifying what might seem to be evil. This is taking a man’s words and deeds, and, like Romish inquisitors, stretching them upon the rack until they become disjointed, and the once symmetrical form is all distorted and awry by reason of the unjust treatment to which slander subjects it. Another way is by insinuations, sly suggestions, expressions of doubt, intimations as to something concealed, a qualifying of the praise of others by some question implying distrust, or lack of confidence.
3. SCOLDING: — The third tongue-sin which St. James mentions is the fretful, scolding tongue. There are those who are always complaining. Even if blessings come, they murmur because they are no greater, and are ready to find fault, not only with all the dealings of their fellow-men, but with all the providences of God.
4. FALSEHOOD: — Falsehood is another grievous tongue-sin; and in this I would include all kinds of lying. The lie positive, and the lie negative; the lie direct, and the lie by implication; the lie malignant, and the lie sportive; every designed departure from truth is falsehood; and every falsehood is a sin against one’s own soul, a sin against your fellow-men, and a sin against God, which He will punish with fearful severity.
5. FILTHY TALKING: — The tongue commits a great sin when it is used in filthy talking and indecent speech. It .is greatly to be lamented that even in polite, and what would pass for modest, society there is too much of tampering with this sin.
6. BOASTING: — Another tongue-sin is boasting. “The tongue is a little member, but boasteth great things.” Boasting results from an overestimate of ourselves, and an underestimate of others. It is selfishness manifesting itself in words. It is the inflated mind, venting itself in windy words. It betrays weakness, littleness, ignorance, vanity, self-conceit, arrogance, presumption.
7. FLATTERY: — Another sin of the tongue is flattery, or the giving of undue and undeserved praise. The desire to say something that will please the person we are speaking to, or that will secure his favour, or elevate us in his regard; or the desire, perhaps, to have him reciprocate the compliment, and flatter us, is the usual motive for this sin of the tongue.
8. PROFANITY: — Lastly, there is the sin of profanity, the taking of God’s name in vain. With what caution use an instrument of speech which has under it “the poison of asps”! With what assiduity should we seek to tame that most untamable of things, that it rends us not by its fierceness, and ravin not upon society by its brute-like goadings! Yet we cannot do this in our own strength or wisdom, and our prayer must be that of the Psalmist, “Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth. Keep the door of my lips.” We must seek for Divine grace to aid us in subduing and controlling the tongue. We must seek to have hearts created anew in Christ Jesus; for if our hearts are right with God our speech will be also.
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