Words that Direct – Bible Study

WORDS THAT DIRECT

Words are small things that carry enormous weight. They can heal or wound, build or destroy, open doors or close them. Yet most of us give very little thought to the words we speak until the damage is already done. The tongue directs the entire course of our lives. That’s a sobering thought. It’s also a hopeful one. Because if words have that kind of power, imagine what happens when God’s Word begins to shape them.

THE POWER OF THE TONGUE

James 3:1–12 
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

Proverbs 18:21
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.

Proverbs 12:18
There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

Proverbs 15:4
A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.

Proverbs 21:23
Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble.

Ecclesiastes 5:2–3
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. For a dream comes with much business, and a fool’s voice with many words.

What areas of your life have been most shaped, for better or worse, by the words you or others have spoken?

THE HEART OF THE PROBLEM

Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

Proverbs 4:23
Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

Matthew 12:34-37
You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.

Mark 7:20-23
And he said, ‘What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.’

What are you currently allowing into your heart, through what you watch, listen to, or dwell on, that is shaping what comes out of your mouth?

DIRECTED BY HIS WORD

Matthew 4:4
But he answered, ‘It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”‘

Isaiah 55:10-11
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

John 6:63
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Psalm 119:11
I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

Colossians 3:16
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Psalm 119:105
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Has the Word of God taken residence in your life or is it a casual visitor?

A SURRENDERED TONGUE

Romans 10:8-10
But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’ (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

James 1:22
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

Psalm 141:3
Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips.

Ephesians 4:29
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

Psalm 19:14
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Colossians 4:6
Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

Proverbs 16:24
Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.

What does it look like for you to surrender your tongue to God, and what is making that surrender difficult?

What is one decisive step you will take this week to bring your words under the direction of God’s Word?

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.