Lesson Seven: The Word, Our Words

This week's lesson on James 3:1-12 was particularly convicting to me. In fact, I actually thought for a few mintes about asking Doris to teach, given the first few passages (that would have been irresponsible and I did not do it):

James 3:1 "Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because
you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check."

Of course, only one person was ever a perfect man, never at fault in what he said, and that one was Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. But as a person who has been asked to teach the Word to other women, I can't help but shake in my shoes when I read these verses -- and then to avoid it or ignore it because it is CONVICTING. However, as we have been learning, studying God's Word takes more work than simply plucking a quote out only to encourage someone or to whack him or her over the head with it.

In our study last night, Brenda had us discuss the power of words for both good and evil. We were reminded:

1- God spoke the world into existance - His Word Is Powerful!
2- Satan deceived Eve by a lie and by challenging God's words - "Did God really say..."
3- Eve bought the lie and that lie led Adam and all of humanity to the Fall.
4- God promised that He would give us a Messiah to save us from our fallen state thru the seed of the woman.
5- Jesus is the Word, and The Word was made flesh and made His dwelling among us. He lived the perfect life and always spoke Truth - He is the Truth, the Life and the Way. He was the perfect man, was never at fault in what He said, and kept His whole body in check. If we trust completely in His atoning death and resurrection for our salvation and if He is Lord of our lives, the we are imputed with His righteousness. That means that when God looks at us, he sees Christ and no longer condemns us for all of our unrighteousness - meaning our terrible words.
6- The Holy Spirit enables us to know God, to understand His Word, to think His thoughts and to speak the Truth in Grace. We are no longer slaves to sin - words that lead to death and the grave. Instead, we have been raised to words of life with Christ.
7- With Christ, we are compelled to speak truth in love even though our old man fights and rebells against the Word that gives life. Christ is seated in the heavenlies making intercession for us and as we submit to Him, He will give us the power of renewed hearts that speak His Truth.

Because we were raised with Christ, and He has given us His precious Word and we have the Word as it is preached to us, our desire should be to grow more like him - keeping a check on our tongues and remembering the power that words have for life and death.

Finally, I was reading today and was reminded that as we behold in the Word of God the revelation of the Lord's holiness, the most I can do, that any of us can do, is to say with the prophet Isaiah:

“Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in
the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD
of hosts!

6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"

And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" ” (Isa. 6:5)

Let us use our tongues to bear witness to our Holy God, telling of who He is, what He has done, and of His precious promises! Amen.