DISCIPLINED SPEECH

Hello Halitosis Haters...What's coming out of your mouth?

We have seen in our last few Ramblings that we as believers in the death, burial, resurrection of Jesus...the D.B.R...nothing more nothing less..
that we are to discipline ourselves for the purpose of godliness. (I Timothy 4:7). There were five areas of discipline...speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity (I Timothy 4:12) Today we focus on our SPEECH. Without discipline...our SPEECH would just flow out of our mouths unrestrained...but the old saying is to..."Think before you speak." When I was in Bible school...I took a class in Homiletics. The teacher was a crusty old crumudgeon of a saint named Marshall Dykes. We were a bunch of wet behind the ears preacher wannabes....who did not want to study...but wanted to preach. Brother Dykes opened our first day in class...we an admonisment to study by stating..."Yooooou preacher boys! You misquote scripture by saying...your going to open your mouth and the Lord will fill it. Yeah...He'll fill....WITH HOT AIR....you got to study to show yourselves approved." A lot of people think they have a lot to say...so they just spout off with no thought or care about who they hurt or insult. Of course a lot of the time...this is a defense mechanism to divert attention away from their inadequacies. I have used this method many times in my life. If I point out someone elses faults enough times...they won't notice who I really am.

Speech is merely the verbal expression of inward thoughts. Discipline of the SPEECH is more than just NOT saying something that you are thinking. That is repression.. and can become like an ingrown hair that is infected from the inside out...that will eventually manifest itself on the surface. No...SPEECH... to be properly disciplined...needs to be dealt with on the ROOT level.

HALITOSIS: Bad smelling breath. Halitosis is dealt with on many levels. (1) Brush your teeth (2) Brush your tongue (3) gum
(4) Mouthwash (5) Floss. All of these are trying to deal with the BREATH problem...what is coming out of your MOUTH on a surface level. Some believe that to deal with halitosis...bad breath...by going to the root of the problem in addition to what is manifest in the mouth. It has been said that THE TONGUE IS THE MIRROR OF THE COLON. They (who is this they that keeps saying things)...say that when you go to bed at night... and wake up in the morning with MORNING MOUTH...that it actually the condition of the COLON that is the body's way of releasing toxins in the colon...with the result being BAD BREATH.

The Bible is pretty specific that OUT OF THE HEART...THE MOUTH SPEAKS. The issue for discipling our SPEECH for the purpose of godliness...is to go to the root...of what we have placed in our heart. This means that we need to RENEW OUR MINDS....MEDITATE ON HIS WORD...TAKE CONTROL OF OUR THOUGHTS...PULL DOWN IMAGINATIONS...AND SPEAK WORDS FOR THE NEED OF THE MOMENT.

Speaking WORDS was an intricate part of the creation process. GOD SAID. The earth was dark, formless, void, chaotic....and God had a better idea. God's will was expressed in the form of WORDS.. and creation and order took place.

Ephesians gives a clue as to how we should be speaking. "Let no unwholesome WORD proceed from your MOUTH...but only such a WORD as is good for EDIFICATION according to the NEED OF THE MOMENT, that it (words) may give GRACE to those who HEAR." (Ephesians 4:29)

The phrase (Let no)...means to don't allow it. This is discipline. Just because a thought comes into your head...does not mean that it needs to come out of your mouth. If it is an UNWHOLESOME word...take control of it. What is the need of the moment. It is the moment...that you need to be ready to build up someone rather than tearing them down. We are called to be GRACEGIVERS. Grace is the divine influence in your heart.. manifested in your life...especially in your mouth.

If you SPEECH is filled with doubt, unbelief, fear, worry, anxiety, tension, care...that can be manifested with an undercurrent of anger, frustration, cussing, cursing rather than blessing...then you have HALITOSIS of of the HEART...manifest in YOUR MOUTH...resulting in your SPEECH.

Remember...UNRESTRAINED THOUGHTS...PRODUCED UNRESTRAINED WORDS...RESULTING IN UNRESTRAINED ACTIONS.

Until next time...

Pass the Breath Mints
Rod "It's Colon Cleaning Time" Boyd