LifeLink Devotions

Tuesday, March 22, 2022

 A basic principle of Bible interpretation is this: “When the plain sense makes good sense, seek no other sense.” Today’s verse is a great example of that.

Ephesians 5:4  Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 

The plain sense makes perfect sense. As imitators of God, our speech is to honor Him. We can easily see three types of communication that do not honor God and one type of communication that does. Even though the words obscenity, foolish talk, and coarse joking are not used anywhere else in the New Testament, the principle of honoring God with your speech is talked about frequently in the Bible. Rather than me sharing my thoughts on this subject, let the plain sense of the following Bible verses make good sense to you, and then let’s all put them into practice by guarding our tongues.

“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. Let your conversation be gracious and attractive. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but a perverse tongue will be cut out. The lips of the righteous know what is fitting, but the mouth of the wicked only what is perverse. The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly. The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit. A man finds joy in giving an apt reply—and how good is a timely word! Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. Your tongue cuts like a sharp razor; you’re an expert at telling lies. You love evil more than good and lies more than truth. You love to destroy others with your words. But God will strike you down once and for all. He will pull you from your home and uproot you from the land of the living. For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.” The tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right! Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

(Psalm 19:14; Colossians 4:6; Ephesians 4:29; Proverbs 10:31-32; Proverbs 15:2,4, 23; 1 Corinthians 15:33; Psalm 52:2-5; Matthew 12:34-37; James 3:6-10; Hebrews 13:15; Ephesians 5:19-20; Colossians 3:16-17)

Pastor John