“For ‘He who would love life
And see good days,
Let him refrain his tongue from evil,
And his lips from speaking deceit.’”
Let him refrain his tongue from evil,
“Refrain” means to cease, desist, make an end or stop. Christians who fill their minds with hurt, anger, or bitterness will manifest those attitudes in their tongue. Sins of the tongue will come to fore. The only way to deal with this is to “desist.”
“From” – source. God does not want us to operate from the source of our evil attitudes. Gossip comes from the source of evil attitudes.
“Evil” – base or morally mean; in this context, it conveys the idea of expressing evil with the mouth.
PRINCIPLE:
The mouth is an indication of our spiritual condition.
APPLICATION:
The tongue ruins many lives:
James 3:5-6, “Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire by hell.”
Refraining our tongues from evil means that we are to get a good grip on our tongues. When God saves a soul, he saves the tongue as well. Do you have a converted tongue?
Does your sharp tongue hurt those closest to you? Is your mouth unkind? People come to a place of maturity when they realize that most of what they say about someone will come back to them.
We need to learn to “refrain” our tongue from evil. How many times do we have to put our feet into our mouths before we learn this lesson? We cause more hurt with our mouths than anything else.
Ps 141:3, “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;
Keep watch over the door of my lips.”
If a Christian is to see good days, he must refrain from something. Is that evil word on the tip of your tongue? Are you about ready to give someone a piece of your mind? A heart free from anything base can control the tongue.
Prov. 4:24, “Put away from you a deceitful mouth,
And put perverse lips far from you.”
Prov. 21:23, “Whoever guards his mouth and tongue
Keeps his soul from troubles.”
Ephesians 4:29, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.”
Col 4:6, “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.”
