Lifepoint Church

This is a summary of personal application of the message on Aug 30,2009.  We welcome your summary and your applications or perhaps takeaway from the time together.  We want to be doers of the Word.  Thanks Esther for being so transparent and real in your application.

drh

Controlling my tongue is something I’ve found myself struggling with for a while now, especially recently. That is why I knew that Pastor Mike’s sermon last Sunday was for me.
My tongue is something I’ve always tried to fix and deal with on my own. Sometimes I can stop my words or gossip and be fine for a while, but eventually I find myself in the same situation as before…sometimes worse. But something I never really noticed until now is that I always tried to fix the situation myself when the only way I can do anything is through Christ. (John 15:5) I have no power in anything that I do.
God knows my heart and He knows my desire to follow Him. He gives us grace. He would never deny help if we should ask, and He definitely would never deny us forgiveness. Jesus came and died so that I might live a life of freedom. If my tongue is something that holds me back from freedom, wouldn’t the Lord want to help me if I asked? I think so.

“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”
James 1: 5 & 6

As Christians, we should show a reversal of the world’s values. We should commit ourselves to being made new every day. The tongue is something I struggle with, but it is something that God has already conquered, and through Him, I have the strength to do so as well.

“…put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Ephesians 4:22-24

As far as gossip goes:
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank I your own eye?”
Matthew 7:3

I think that pretty much speaks for itself.
We are all children of God, made in His image and likeness. If we ever find ourselves in a situation of gossip, we should stop and ask ourselves,
“What is in my heart that is making me speak this way?”
The Bible goes as far as to say that if we hate our brother we are liars if we claim to love God.

“If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen…whoever love God must also love his brother.”
John 4:20 & 21

And please, do not forget that as mercilessly as you judge, you too will be judged also.

“The same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
Matthew 7:1

I think it’s safe to say, that every person on earth knows how bad it feels to hear negative words being said about them. We have all felt the personal effects of words piercing us, “like a sword” (Proverbs 12:18).
Some of us may take it as an excuse to return ill comments to the one who spoke ill about us. However, the Bible says in Matthew 5, “If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” Never seek justice in an unjust world, but never cease to give it.
God has called us to a life set apart, and we must constantly remind ourselves of this. Not everyone will live the life of a missionary or martyr, but it doesn’t make any of us less important in what we do every day, and there are always people watching us, taking note of how we live our lives.

“Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men.”
Ephesians 6:7

We should apply this to our actions as well as our words, treating every person we see as a child of the Most High King.
Remember: whatever we struggle with, the Lord has called us to a life of freedom.

“For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin- because anyone who has dies has been freed from sin.”
Romans 6: 6 & 7