Be Careful With the Sins of the Tongue
The Bible warns us over and over to be careful with our words. God honors his word and keeps his word. He does not lie, exaggerate, or make false claims and promises. He fulfills what he says. In fact, the Bible says, “God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?” Numbers 23:19
Humans are prone to lying, changing our minds, and not fulfilling what we say. It is a sin, but God expects those who have trusted in his son to be perfect as he is perfect (Matthew 5:48).
“Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore, let your words be few.” Ecclesiastes 5:2
Not keeping our word and taking words casually is a sign of foolishness and lack of fear of God and respect for others. The Bible says we are “trapped by the words of your lips and ensnared by the words of your mouth” (Proverbs 6:2).
“There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that run swiftly to evil, a false witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up discord among brothers.” Proverbs 6:16-19
Let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ be ‘No’
Jesus also warned us and said we should not swear but say yes or no. “Again, you have heard that it was said to the ancients, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ But I tell you not to swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is His footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor should you swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ be ‘No.’ Anything more comes from the evil one.” Matthew 5:33-37
Jesus says anything more than yes or no comes from Satan. It is okay to say NO. It is better to say no than lie. Most times people say yes to please people but never fulfill what they said. God hates that. It is lying.
James repeated the same thing: “But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under CONDEMNATION.” James 5:12
James also warned against making declarations about what we will do tomorrow, “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit.” You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your proud intentions. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin.” James 4:13-17
He calls it boasting to make plans and promises for tomorrow, and yet we don’t even know if we will be alive. Instead we should learn to say God willing because then we are placing it in God’s hands and allowing him the decision.
Fulfilling vows
God says he has no delight in the vows of fools: “When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it, because He takes no pleasure in fools. Fulfill your vow.” Ecclesiastes 5:4
He also says that the man who keeps his word even when it hurts is the one who shall ascend his holy hill and dwell in his tabernacle.
“Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill…He who swears to his own hurt and does not change.” Psalms 15:1, 4
God expects us to keep our promises even if it hurts us. Because he too keeps his promises. He does not change. He is trustworthy because he keeps his word. He expects his children to strive to be that way.
The tongue can lead to hell
Brethren, we all offend with our words, but we are warned to be careful and avoid that. The tongue leads to hell more than anything else. James says the tongue is a wildfire and sets the whole course of life in hell, “And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body and sets on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire by hell.” James 3:6
We should avoid:
- Making promises we are not sure we can keep
- Instead of quickly saying you’ll do something, say God willing or wait until you’re sure. God considers all such broken promises sin. He hates it when we don’t keep our word.
- Making plans for tomorrow with assurance instead say “if God’s wills”.
- Saying we will do something and then fail. If you fail, apologize, and don’t do it again. Don’t neglect to ask for forgiveness when you do this. Don’t ignore it.
- Saying you’ll pray for someone or greet someone, and then you don’t. It is a sin
- Pledge money and then refuse to give it, it is a sin. Pay your vows even if it hurts.
- Exaggerated speech: many people do this. Exaggerating facts when speaking, making false claims, and even using lying speech like telling someone, “Give me one second or one minute, I’ll be there in 5 minutes” and you know very well you won’t take one second. It’s better to be honest and just say “Let me go and do something and I’ll get back to you when I can. Or say “I’m on my way I don’t know how long I’ll take but I’m coming.”
- Lying about where you are on the phone.
- Excessive talking because in the multitude of words, sin is not absent.
These things we do with our lips seem so normal, but they are all lies, and we shall be accountable because our angels record everything we say and do.
Jesus said we shall account for every IDLE WORD on judgment day.
“But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” Matthew 12:36
Being slow to speak
All these sins come because we are careless. We don’t take time to guard our lips; we are rash in speaking. We talk quickly and without thinking.
“In the multitude of words, sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is wise. When words are many, sin is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise.” Proverbs 10:19
James gives us good counsel to avoid this, “My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger.” James 1:19
Don’t be in a hurry to speak, commit, pledge, and promise. Take your time. It is okay to say NO. It’s your right. That’s better than saying yes to please people and sinning against God when you don’t fulfill your yes.
Ananias and Sapphira committed a similar sin. They pledged with their mouth, which no one asked them to make, and then lied to cover up their deceit. The judgment of God fell on them instantly. God has given us free will. We don’t have to pledge or lie. We can choose to be quiet and think before we commit. That is wisdom. Peter told Ananias that the land was his to begin with, so why did he do what he did? No one forced him to pledge; if they had not pledged and kept their land, they would not have been judged. But they were rash to pledge to look good before people while lying to the Holy Spirit.
Jesus gave this parable: “A certain man had two sons. And he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in my vineyard.’ He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he repented and went. And he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ and went not. Which of those two did the will of his father?” They said unto Him, “The first.” Matthew 21:28-31
The one who said no and later changed his mind and went was more righteous than the one who said he would go and did not fulfill his vow.
“Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips.” Psalm 141:3
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