1-2 Don't be in any rush to become a teacher, my friends. Teaching is highly responsible work. Teachers are held to the strictest standards. And none of us is perfectly qualified. We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths. If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you'd have a perfect person, in perfect control of life.... 8-9. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth! ...10-12My friends, this can't go on. A spring doesn't gush fresh water one day and brackish the next, does it? Apple trees don't bear strawberries, do they? Raspberry bushes don't bear apples, do they? You're not going to dip into a polluted mud hole and get a cup of clear, cool water, are you? 13-16Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here's what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It's the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts.
Some very cool things about this passage in The Message: I love the "we get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths" verse. Who are we trying to kid? Self control -- trying to control the tongue -- is all good and necessary, but at the end of the day we're all deceitful and wicked. But the tension for me comes in verse 2. The above comment and the bit on perfection doesn't lead me to the cynical conclusion that we shouldn't bother trying. Perfection although never attainable on this side should be the goal.
The next few verses confirm that it's not a matter of self-control. The verses I omitted deal with the power of the tongue. The following verses confirm that you can't control the tongue through sheer grit and determination. It's a question of the heart. "A spring doesn't gush fresh water one day and brackish the next, does it?"
I'm reading a devotional book right now entitled Renovation of the Heart by Dallas Willard. One of the main point of the book is that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. So it's the heart that needs to change. The the exterior things will also change. And how does the heart change? That happens through 1) the humble acknowledgement that we can't do it and 2) the daily discipled submission the Christ's lordship and work in our lives.
Back to the issue of wisdom with regards to what comes out of our mouths: I love Peterson's punch-line: "Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here's what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It's the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts."
Some very cool things about this passage in The Message: I love the "we get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths" verse. Who are we trying to kid? Self control -- trying to control the tongue -- is all good and necessary, but at the end of the day we're all deceitful and wicked. But the tension for me comes in verse 2. The above comment and the bit on perfection doesn't lead me to the cynical conclusion that we shouldn't bother trying. Perfection although never attainable on this side should be the goal.
The next few verses confirm that it's not a matter of self-control. The verses I omitted deal with the power of the tongue. The following verses confirm that you can't control the tongue through sheer grit and determination. It's a question of the heart. "A spring doesn't gush fresh water one day and brackish the next, does it?"
I'm reading a devotional book right now entitled Renovation of the Heart by Dallas Willard. One of the main point of the book is that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. So it's the heart that needs to change. The the exterior things will also change. And how does the heart change? That happens through 1) the humble acknowledgement that we can't do it and 2) the daily discipled submission the Christ's lordship and work in our lives.
Back to the issue of wisdom with regards to what comes out of our mouths: I love Peterson's punch-line: "Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here's what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It's the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts."
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