Sunday, 26 December 2021
by Abraham Verghese
Speak “Life or Death”?

James 1:19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.
Proverbs 18 : 21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.

“It is impossible for me to control what I say. It is said before I realise what I have said.” Yes, sometimes we may feel as though we have no control over what we say. But that is all it is – a feeling.

Dr Lawrence Crabb , a Christian psychologist, says “The loss of felt choice does not mean the loss of real choice“. The Book of James tells us that “the tongue is a small part of the body” (James 3 : 5 ). The tongue, it sounds as if it has a personality, not only a physical part of the body. Whatever it is, what really matters is the words the tongue produces.

To rephrase Proverbs 18: 21 “Death and life are in the power of the words the tongue produces”. There is a production of words from the tongue. Those words come from the heart before they land on a person’s tongue.

To further rephrase Proverbs 18:21, “Death and life are in the power of the spoken words that come out of the heart”. We praise our Lord and Father with our tongue, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness” (James 3 : 9 ). Words are containers of power that create action. They either build up or tear down. Words have the power to bring life or death physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It’s a matter of cause and effect. God has always given humanity a choice between life and death – in the garden of Eden, before Moses led the people of Israel into the promised land, when Israel was under siege by the Babylonians. Humans have the choice to rule the power of the tongue. However, that can be difficult to master as James 3: 8 says “but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison”.

So where did the choice go? It’s still there. God has given us the way to choose life and tame our tongue. The way to choose life and tame our tongue is deeply rooted in Jesus. He is the way, the truth, and the life, and the word made flesh. To tame our tongue is to pay attention to what is in our heart. “ A good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and an evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. “( Luke 6 :45 ).

Being filled with Him fills our hearts with life. James and Paul tell us how to put the right things in our hearts. “ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. “(Colossians 3 : 16)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger. Human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Life and death are in the power of the tongue and with the help of the Holy Spirit we can choose to speak life.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, we admit that our tongues have too many times been a problem. Too often we speak before we think, and at times while we are still thinking, we start speaking, and not in the right way or with the right words. Help us Father God and lead us to speak life that give You honor and glory. In Jesus mighty name we ask. Amen.

班底浸信教会
每日灵粮
2021 年 12 月 26星期日
主题：述说“生还是死”？
作者：Abraham Verghese
翻译：林良億

雅各书 1: 19 我亲爱的弟兄们，你们要知道，人人都应该快快地听，慢慢地说，慢一点动怒，。
箴言 18 : 21 生与死都在舌头的权下； 爱把弄这权柄的，必自食其果

“我不可能控制我说的话。在我意识到我说了什么之前就已经说了。” 是的，有时我们可能会觉得我们无法控制自己所说的话。但这其实就是一种感觉，仅此而已。

基督教心理学家，劳伦斯克拉布博士（Dr Lawrence Crabb）说：”失去感觉上的选择并不意味着失去真正的选择”。雅各书告诉我们“舌头只是身体的一小部分”（雅各书 3：5）。舌头，听起来好像是有个性的，而不仅仅是身体的一个物理部分。不管是什么，真正重要的是舌头产生的话语。

换句话说，箴言18：21 “生死在舌头的权下”。舌头是会产生话语的。这些话还没说到嘴边，是来自内心的。

若是给箴言 18:21进一步重新措辞，“生死取决于发自内心的言语”。我们用舌头赞美我们的主和父神，也用舌头咒诅按照神的样式造的人”（雅各书 3：9）。语言是创造行动的力量容器。它们要么建立，要么拆毁。

话语有能力在身体上、情感上和精神上带来生命或死亡。这是一个因果关系的问题。 上帝总是给人类一个生与死的选择–在伊甸园里，在摩西带领以色列人民进入应许之地之前，当以色列被巴比伦人包围时。

人类可以选择支配舌头的力量。然而，这可能很难掌握，因为雅各书3：8说：”惟独舌头没有人能制伏，是不止息的恶物，满了害死人的毒气”。

那么，选择去哪儿了？它仍然存在。上帝已经给了我们选择生命和驯服舌头的方法。选择生命和驯服舌头的方法深深植根于耶稣。祂是道路、真理、生命，是道成肉身。驯服我们的舌头就是要注意们的内心。”善人从他心里所存的善就发出善来，恶人从他心里所存的恶就发出恶来；因为心里所充满的，口里就说出来。”（路加福音6:45）。

被祂充满会使我们的心充满生命。雅各和保罗告诉我们如何把正确的事情放在心里。 “6 当用各样的智慧，把基督的道理丰丰富富的存在心里，用诗章、颂词、灵歌，彼此教导 ，互相劝戒，心被恩感，歌颂神。 “（歌罗西书 3：16）

在基督里的弟兄姊妹，让我们快快地聆听，慢慢地说话，慢慢地动怒。人的愤怒不会产生上帝所希望的公义。生死取决于舌头所发的话语，在圣灵的帮助下，我们可以选择说出生命。

祷告：天父，我们承认我们的舌头有太多次出了问题。很多时候我们在思考之前就发言，有时在我们还在思考的时候，我们就开始说话了，而且方式或用词都不对。天父上帝！帮助我们，带领我们发言讲出祢的生命， 把尊荣和荣耀归于祢。奉主耶稣大能的圣名求的。阿们。