James 1:26 “If anyone among you thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue has deceived his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.”
One of the greatest indicators of a true conversion to Christianity is a person’s new conversation. When the Lord enters our lives our language changes. The filthy mouth gets filtered and our language is clean and wholesome.
Going deeper, Pastor James is writing a letter that gets to the heart of the matter and he will address the language of believers several times in his letter. In chapter 3 he will drill down on how harmful the tongue can be. He will ask very directly and pointedly how could one’s tongue bless God and then turn around and curse men. He states emphatically that these things should not be.
The Christian is to have control over their conduct and their conversation! The Christian is to have clean, wholesome, words proceeding from their tongue. James speaks of having a bridle on your tongue. A bridle is used on a horse to control and direct the horse.
As far as finding verses to help with controlling your conversation there are many! The Book of Proverbs has around 150!
Here are just a few to help you bridle your tongue:
We start with two prayers from Psalms.
Psalms 19:14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.
Psalms 141:3 Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips.
Proverbs tells us what happens with the uncontrolled tongue and the controlled tongue in Proverbs 10:19. It says, “In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, But he who restrains his lips is wise.”
Paul tells us what should not come out of our mouth and what should
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.
Are you converted? If so, your conversation will be different from one who is lost! If your conversation is not different then you need to ask if you are really converted!
Continue Strong with wholesome words!
And remember to DATE The Word