Rabbi Schneider - How Words Control You
I want to begin today with a foundational scripture. I'm reading now from the book of James chapter number 3. Hear the word of God. "For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man able to bridle the whole body as well. Now if we put the bits into the horse's mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well". So what James is doing here, is he's talking about how we have this animal, the horse, such a strong animal and yet we can control the horse by putting the bridle in the horse's mouth. And by controlling the horse's mouth with the bridle and the reigns, we can control the direction that the horse goes. And he's about to tell us that the same thing is true, beloved child of God, for your life and my life. If we control what comes out of our mouth, if you and I will control our tongue, if we'll control our mouth, it will determine the direction that our lives will go, the trajectory of our spiritual progress; even as a bridle in a horse's mouth controls the direction that the horse travels.
Let's continue on. Again he picks up. He speaks about putting a bit in a horse's mouth. And then he says in verse number 4, "Look at ships". He says, "Look at the ships also. Though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, they're still directed by a very small rudder where ever the inclination of the pilot desires". I mean these are really two incredible examples if you think about it. He talks about, again, one of the biggest, strongest animals; a horse, being directed by its mouth. And then he speaks about a ship, how big a ship is. And yet as big as the ship is and no matter how big the ship is, the direction that the ship travels is determined by the little rudder, which James compares to our mouth, at the back of the ship. The point he's about to make is, if we will control our tongue, if you and I beloved one will control the words that we release from our mouths, we will determine through that the direction that we're gonna go in life.
Let's continue on here. "So also the tongue is a small part of the body and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set a flame by such a small fire". So now James is saying, "You too, your whole life is determined by what comes out of your mouth". But then he speaks about how prone we are to release things from our mouth that destroy. And so he speaks about how a little flame can destroy a whole forest by a forest fire. "See how great a forest is set a flame by such a small fire". So you and I, we think that the things that we say don't mean much. We think that a little criticism there, a little cursing here, a little lying here, a little gossip here, a little complaining here, a little negativity here, oh it doesn't matter. It's just a small thing. But James says, no the whole forest is set a blaze by a small flame. And so you and I need to be conscious of the fact that the little things that we think don't matter that come out of our mouth are actually poisoning us and bringing destruction into our life, hindering our spiritual progress and connecting us to forces of darkness. Beloved, this is so important and it's so practical.
Let's continue on in verse number 6. "The tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell. For every every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea is tame and has been tamed by the human race. But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, with it we curse men who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, my son, my daughter, these things are not to be". And so now that we have established how the tongue and the words that come out of our mouth are so important and determine our spiritual trajectory, direction, I want to talk to you today about four types of things that come from our mouth that bring defilement to us.
Listen to number one. Problem number one, the abundance of words or talking too much. I remember not long ago my brother and I were going fishing somewhere and somebody was taking us and this person didn't stop talking for two hours. And afterwards my brother said to me, "He had diarrhea of the mouth". It wasn't that he was speaking of something that was so inappropriate. He just didn't stop talking. And the words that were coming out of his mouth, they were so meaningless, they were so non essential, there was no weight in them, there was no power in them, there was no trans formative power in them. They were just words, talking, talking, talking. The first thing that I want you to be conscious of, beloved ones, is that if you're talking too much by the very definition and nature of the abundance of your words, you bring defilement to yourself.
Listen to what we read for example in the book of Proverbs. "When there are many words transgression is unavoidable, but he who restrains his tongue is wise". People that can't stop talking automatically are defiling themselves, because when you're talking too much you're delivering words that are at best empty and that emptiness will defile. The scripture says we will be judged by every, listen, idle word that comes out of our mouth. What does idle mean? Idle means they're just not going anywhere. And so I want to encourage you, especially those of you that are nervous or have been raised in cultures where everyone's talking all the time, if you're gonna have power in your life and if I'm gonna have power in my life we need to control our words.
I want you to think about this mystery. When the children of Israel were about to enter the Promised Land God gave them a supernatural strategy. The children of Israel were commanded to remain silent for seven days. They marched around the city of Jericho, which was the entrance into the Promised Land, for seven days. And no one was to speak a word. Then on the seventh day the priest blew the shofar and when the priest blew the shofar the people that had been silent for seven days let out a great shout and the walls fell down. I believe that the reason that the Lord commanded them to be silent for seven days before shouting, which brought the wall down, is because by silence they were building up power.
There was a time in my life where I was developing a sore throat and strained my vocal chord. And my doctor told me, "You need to stop talking and stop preaching for two months". For two months I didn't talk. I communicated only by writing. And you know what? When I began to speak after the two months, I went to the doctor and he released me to speak, there was such power in my voice. I had such authority and it came from being wise with my word and not talking too much. Beloved, number one, people that are talking too much bring defilement into their lives. If you know that your perhaps someone who's nervous and you release your nervous energy by talking all the time, of if you're just getting caught up with people who are talking all the time and as a result you're talking too much; I want to tell you right now, stop. Put the brakes on. Pull yourself back and learn to be wise with your words.
Problem number two, words that defile, careless words. Listen what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 12 verse 36 and 37. "But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an account for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned". Careless words, just words that perhaps are damaging, they injure, the emotion released in the words is not right, because you're not, listen, thinking about what you're saying. Careless words are hasty words, they're reckless words, they're words that people are speaking without sensitive to what they're saying and without being fully conscious of what they're saying and what they're releasing into the atmosphere. Be careful what you say. Begin to pay attention to what you say. You and I need to put a reign on the words that come from our mouth. Careless words will bring destruction into your life and into the lives of others. People are sometimes careless with their words, because they're letting their emotions control them, rather than being controlled by truth. Be careful what you say. May your words and my words, beloved ones, line up with the Word of God.
Let's continue on and this will become even more clear. Problem number three, going from careless words to becoming more specific. Words that defile, problem number three, are negative and complaining words. This is one of the easiest things to reign in on our lives right now, to be like a laser examining our words and asking our self, "Are the words that we're speaking negative or complaining"? You know people who are negative. They're always looking at the glass at being half empty rather than half full. Let's listen to a scripture that really will help us to understand what is a negative or a complaining word look like. I'm reading now from the book of Philippians chapter 4:8-9. Our words need to match up with what Philippians 4:8 and 9 teach us. Hear the Word of God. Paul says here, "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is anything excellent, if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things".
In other words, dwell on those things that are good and beautiful and of good report. Paul continues, "the things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you". So we have to ask our self when we're speaking, "Is it bringing goodness into the atmosphere? Are we speaking things in which we're speaking of a good report? Are we looking for the good things in life? Are we looking for the good things in people? Are we looking for that which is beautiful, that which is lovely, that which is excellent, that which has hope, that which gives life"? We need to be speaking forth, beloved, positive things, rather than allowing our self to be drawn down by the powers of darkness and begin to grumble and begin to speak negative things. Listen, your life trajectory, the motion that you're traveling in is gonna be determined by what you release from your mouth. This is why the Word of God always ties together what we believe and what we say. The scripture says, "If we believe in our heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and then confess it with our mouth".
See how the two work together? First we believe with our heart. Then we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and we'll be saved. Jesus said, "If you believe and say to that mountain be moved, it will be moved". So it's very important what we say. There's power that's released into the spiritual atmosphere that surrounds our lives and affects other people. There's power that's released into the atmosphere by what we say. Lastly today, words that defile. Problem number four, words through which we can criticize or judge others. Let me say it again, how many of us are guilty of being habitually criticizing, complaining about, and judging other people? This is so dangerous and it only brings destruction. Remember the analogy that James used in the beginning of the message today. He said, "Listen a little flame destroys the whole forest". And this is what happens when you and I get into a habit of criticizing people and being negative. It destroys our whole spiritual life. We're stuck in darkness.
Hear the Word of God as I read now from the book of Matthew chapter number 7, verse number 2. "For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured back to you". James says the same thing once again in James 3:9-10. He says in James 3:9-10 that what we speak of concerning God should be the same type of spirit through which we speak about other people. In other words, James says you bless God with your same mouth you curse people, this ought not to be. I want to say to you today, this is so serious. We need to stop gossiping about people. We need to stop talking about their faults. I realize that times it's necessary to evaluate people's behavior and try to understand what's going on and look for understanding so we can navigate relationships. But I'm not talking about words that are spoken for the benefit of ascending in a relationship so we have peace. I'm talking about people that are just criticizing because they're in darkness.
Listen, if you and I are criticizing other people it's gonna hurt us. The Bible tells us as we began today, that what comes out of our mouth will determine the direction of our life. We've looked today at different types of things that come out of our mouth that defile us. We've looked at careless words. We've looked at the fact that we need to be paying attention to what we're saying. We examine the problem of talking too much. And by very definition, people that are always talking, they defile themselves. We examined today the tendency that some people have, they're always complaining. I mean they always are complaining. How many of you know somebody like that? No matter what's going on they always gravitate towards finding something bad about what's going on, always focusing on the problem, always looking for the negative. They're stuck in darkness. We need to avoid, the scripture says, such men as this. We need to be careful that we're focusing on looking for the positive, looking for the excellent, speaking about what has a good report, dwelling and speaking on that which is lovely and releasing Jesus' beauty into the atmosphere.
And then lastly today we spoke about the extreme danger of being critical and judgmental of other people. Perhaps this is the biggest one, because there's a tendency within the human heart, because the scripture says that, "The heart is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things". There's a tendency within humanity to criticize people and we have to understand that a lot of times when we feel judged, maybe we were reared in an environment where our mom or dad judged us. For some reason maybe there's a spirit of accusation on our own life. One of the natural things that people do that feel criticized or feel judged, one of the things they naturally do is they pass that spirit on to others around their lives. In other words, if there's a person that grew up in an abusive home, their mom or dad abused them psychologically, verbally, whatever it is, those people unless they get radically changed will repeat that same pattern in their own lives as parents; even as they were judged and abused by their parents verbally, these same parents now have children and they begin to abuse their children.
But you know what? By Jesus Christ we can break the cycle of being negative with our words. I want you hear me today beloved ones. If you control what you say, if you'll avoid excessive talking, if you'll be conscious of the words that are coming out of your mouth so that you're not speaking carelessly, if you'll focus on speaking positive things, and if you'll avoid criticizing and judging other people, you will build up God's power in your spirit and it will cause you to ascend out of darkness into your life. By practicing these disciplines your whole life is going to be transformed. It's just that simple. It's like James said, even as a small rudder controls the whole ship, so too if you'll focus on what comes out of your mouth and control it, it's gonna determine the spiritual trajectory of your life. You're gonna grow up in God's Spirit and walk into peace.