Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
The same mouth should not both honor God and tear down people who bear His likeness, for such divided speech has no place in a life of faith. The tongue is an unruly evil that does great harm unless it is bridled, disciplined and kept under full control. Words reveal what is cherished in the heart, and the habitual bent of speech shows character and shapes thought and action. Cursing includes faultfinding, gossip, talebearing, evil-surmising, backbiting and sowing doubt, which breeds strife, poisons faith, divides brethren and will be brought into judgment. Blessing is the sanctified use of speech as a precious trust to comfort, encourage, uplift and build one another up to full maturity in Christ.
Meaning in Context
Blessing is blessing God the Father and cursing is cursing men made in God's likeness and after His similitude, and for both to proceed out of the same mouth ought not to be. Such divided speech is inconsistent and must not characterize believers, because it is not consistent with faith to use the tongue both to honor God and to harm others. Conduct toward God and toward others must consistently reflect Christian principles, with justice, generosity, tenderness, compassion, and courtesy put into practice in every part of religious life. These truths must shape character and daily speech, and the tongue must be controlled.
The inconsistency is reinforced by the images that follow of a fountain sending forth sweet water and bitter at the same place, a fig tree bearing olive berries, a vine bearing figs, and a plant producing unlike things, showing that one source should not yield opposing kinds. The chapter's requirements for speech are plain and forceful, so that none need mistake the way set for the use of speech. Its truths must be carefully considered, studied, laid to heart, and made the pattern for forming a faultless character fit to stand before the throne of God. They must be read prayerfully, alongside the call to love that is patient, kind, and unselfish, and be carried out into daily life, because the principles of the ten precepts cannot be carried out without heeding this teaching.
The tongue is the unruly member, an unruly evil full of deadly poison, and it can do great harm. It must therefore be entirely controlled, bridled, disciplined, guarded, and educated in carefulness of words and acts, with the course of action restrained and gauged instead of acting unfettered. Putting a bridle on the spirit means refusing to speak perversely or to fault-find against fellow believers. Uncontrolled talk is unruly and unholy, separating close friends and spreading evil, so that when the tongue is given room for this work the joy of the Lord cannot remain in the church, and church members must stop suspicious, critical, and harmful talk and use words that bring peace, heal, and strengthen others.
Cursing speech comes from a wisdom that is earthly, sensual, and devilish, bringing confusion and every evil work. Those who speak it manifest the attributes of Satan and prove they are not a branch of the True Vine. In contrast stands the wisdom from above, which is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy, shown out of good conduct with meekness of wisdom. Words shaped by that wisdom are pure, peaceable, gentle, merciful, and free from hypocrisy. Genuine fruit requires daily conversion, drawing sap and nourishment from the True Vine and being crucified with Christ.
Character is shown by the habitual tendency of words and actions rather than by occasional good or bad deeds. Words reveal what is cherished in the heart, and speech expressing jealousy, evil suspicion, or selfishness dishonors God. Words express thoughts and then react upon and shape further thoughts and actions, so hastily spoken opinions and decisions can lead into wrong courses and wound others, while pride may keep a person from retracting words even after reconsideration, with harmful results. Control of the tongue is closely connected with personal religion, and the tongue belongs to God and must be sanctified, but that work begins in the heart as the seat of affection. When the heart is not filled with God's Spirit, excitable and confusing speech dishonors God and cannot safely be trusted, and words of distrust and accusation damage Christian confidence and conflict with the love and meekness that show a life joined to Christ.
Godly Speech in Practice
Speech is a precious gift and trust from God that becomes a power for good when sanctified by the Holy Spirit, able to persuade, to offer prayer and praise to God, to convey the Redeemer's love, and to plant seeds of truth in hearts. So sanctified, it is to win souls to Christ, to honor the plan of redemption, to comfort the discouraged, and to speak kind, honest words that give grace and knowledge to hearers. Speech turned to attack the faults of others instead provokes resistance and does harm. For idle words men must answer to God, including hard, dishonest, or exaggerated speech.
Cursing is jealous faultfinding, talebearing, gossip, and tearing brethren down to lift up self. It is accusing the brethren and questioning and finding fault with everything and with every man's teaching, and it is speaking grievances, bitterness, evil-surmising and unjust suspicion. It is watching for evil, catching at supposed evil and talking it over and feeding upon it as a sweet morsel under the tongue, presenting every act in a distorted, perverted light, and reporting matters that hurt another soul. It is misinterpreting words and deeds from a finite standpoint, letting imagination and feeling lead astray, whispering, twisting innocent words into evil, expressing doubt, backbiting, planting seeds of doubt, and cherishing or expressing unbelief. It includes envy, evil thinking, evil speaking, watching for evil, evil surmising, and striving for supremacy to build self up by tearing others down, practiced even by ministers, missionaries, and every professing church member.
Such speech sows seeds of dissension, reveals bitter envying and strife in the heart, and strengthens evil-speaking. It creates suspicion and distrust, plants bitter fibrous roots that poison faith and defile many souls, alienates brother from brother, and separates close friends. It removes the joy of the Lord from the church when the tongue is given room for this work. It hinders the work God desires done, places His servants in the worst light, and advances the enemy's work by its speakers becoming his best agents and allies as accusers of the brethren day and night. Careless expressions of doubt and accusations injure minds and hearts and, like seed, produce unbelief and apostasy when circumstances allow. Such use of the tongue sows a harvest of evils from the originator of evil, closes the field, unfits workers for mission service, and lessens influence for good in church and world. God will bring every such use of the tongue with all its consequences and results into judgment, judging not by what one once was but by what one now is.
In personal and family life impatient, fretful, angry, and cross words to family or fellow members must be restrained, for they destroy family peace and happiness. Speech reveals character and trains children by example, and position cannot make anyone fit for heaven or worthy of the crown of life. Because many sins are committed through speech, reflection before speaking is required, with avoidance of excessive or purposeless talk and with speech aimed to edify, encourage, and uplift. Sometimes silence honors God better than speaking. The tongue is to be kept bridled, with silence maintained when tempted to answer unjust treatment, and with strength sought in prayer bringing victory over the enemy. Speech governed wisely and used at the right time promotes peace and becomes an influence for good.
To preserve peace the tongue must be guarded and governed, for harsh words used to gain a point in dispute cause wounds hard to heal. Winning an argument can place a burden on another far outweighing any advantage gained. Individuality must not become prominent by insisting on having one's own way and thereby creating strife. Unless a question of vital importance is involved, personal opinion and individual preferences should be yielded and left unexpressed when expressing them would create discord. Matters that create strife must never be introduced into conversation, because they hurt one's own soul and the souls of others, and private differences should be kept to oneself and told only to God. Suspicious, critical, and harmful talk must stop, with words instead bringing peace, healing, and strength.
Blessing is building one another up in the most holy faith and helping one another day by day to grow to the full stature of men and women in Christ, which represents Christ's character to the world and closes the door to the enemy. Lives and words must have the spiritual quality needed to help preserve families from corruption and immorality. Conduct toward God and others must consistently reflect justice, generosity, tenderness, compassion, and courtesy in every part of religious life. Everlasting consequences depend on the use of the tongue, so hasty harsh speech must be confessed rather than vindicated, pride conquered, the soul humbled before God, and the King's highway cleared by respecting the Spirit's conviction. Disunion is to be removed by going directly to the one thought to have injured or to hold a grudge, refusing to brood over and nurse supposed wrongs, healing every wound with grace so no obstruction remains to corrode and break forth later, and no longer continuing at variance. Ministers especially are to build up and not tear down, speaking only words under the Holy Spirit that soften and subdue rather than aggravate and discourage fellow workers, and yielding to conviction when facts are set before them in truth. This requires guarding thoughts and controlling feelings so speech is such as heaven can approve, disciplining imagination, tongue, and mind, ceasing accusation and mischief-making and circulation of scandal, criticizing self severely instead of others, coming off the devil's ground, and making straight paths for the feet lest the lame be turned out of the way. Words are to be saved to comfort, encourage, and bless, which brings love and true elevation, with a pledge as solemn as a pledge against intoxicating liquor to speak only words pleasing to God, with coarse speech that dishonors the Spirit refined as evidence of neglected personal work, and with Christ as example who though sorely tried by sneers, taunts, and ridicule never sinned with His lips but met opposition with patient calmness and singing psalms.
The same mouth should not both honor God and tear down people who bear His likeness, for such divided speech has no place in a life of faith. The tongue is an unruly evil that does great harm unless it is bridled, disciplined and kept under full control. Words reveal what is cherished in the heart, and the habitual bent of speech shows character and shapes thought and action. Cursing includes faultfinding, gossip, talebearing, evil-surmising, backbiting and sowing doubt, which breeds strife, poisons faith, divides brethren and will be brought into judgment. Blessing is the sanctified use of speech as a precious trust to comfort, encourage, uplift and build one another up to full maturity in Christ.
Meaning in Context
Blessing is blessing God the Father and cursing is cursing men made in God's likeness and after His similitude, and for both to proceed out of the same mouth ought not to be. Such divided speech is inconsistent and must not characterize believers, because it is not consistent with faith to use the tongue both to honor God and to harm others. Conduct toward God and toward others must consistently reflect Christian principles, with justice, generosity, tenderness, compassion, and courtesy put into practice in every part of religious life. These truths must shape character and daily speech, and the tongue must be controlled.
The inconsistency is reinforced by the images that follow of a fountain sending forth sweet water and bitter at the same place, a fig tree bearing olive berries, a vine bearing figs, and a plant producing unlike things, showing that one source should not yield opposing kinds. The chapter's requirements for speech are plain and forceful, so that none need mistake the way set for the use of speech. Its truths must be carefully considered, studied, laid to heart, and made the pattern for forming a faultless character fit to stand before the throne of God. They must be read prayerfully, alongside the call to love that is patient, kind, and unselfish, and be carried out into daily life, because the principles of the ten precepts cannot be carried out without heeding this teaching.
The tongue is the unruly member, an unruly evil full of deadly poison, and it can do great harm. It must therefore be entirely controlled, bridled, disciplined, guarded, and educated in carefulness of words and acts, with the course of action restrained and gauged instead of acting unfettered. Putting a bridle on the spirit means refusing to speak perversely or to fault-find against fellow believers. Uncontrolled talk is unruly and unholy, separating close friends and spreading evil, so that when the tongue is given room for this work the joy of the Lord cannot remain in the church, and church members must stop suspicious, critical, and harmful talk and use words that bring peace, heal, and strengthen others.
Cursing speech comes from a wisdom that is earthly, sensual, and devilish, bringing confusion and every evil work. Those who speak it manifest the attributes of Satan and prove they are not a branch of the True Vine. In contrast stands the wisdom from above, which is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy, shown out of good conduct with meekness of wisdom. Words shaped by that wisdom are pure, peaceable, gentle, merciful, and free from hypocrisy. Genuine fruit requires daily conversion, drawing sap and nourishment from the True Vine and being crucified with Christ.
Character is shown by the habitual tendency of words and actions rather than by occasional good or bad deeds. Words reveal what is cherished in the heart, and speech expressing jealousy, evil suspicion, or selfishness dishonors God. Words express thoughts and then react upon and shape further thoughts and actions, so hastily spoken opinions and decisions can lead into wrong courses and wound others, while pride may keep a person from retracting words even after reconsideration, with harmful results. Control of the tongue is closely connected with personal religion, and the tongue belongs to God and must be sanctified, but that work begins in the heart as the seat of affection. When the heart is not filled with God's Spirit, excitable and confusing speech dishonors God and cannot safely be trusted, and words of distrust and accusation damage Christian confidence and conflict with the love and meekness that show a life joined to Christ.
Godly Speech in Practice
Speech is a precious gift and trust from God that becomes a power for good when sanctified by the Holy Spirit, able to persuade, to offer prayer and praise to God, to convey the Redeemer's love, and to plant seeds of truth in hearts. So sanctified, it is to win souls to Christ, to honor the plan of redemption, to comfort the discouraged, and to speak kind, honest words that give grace and knowledge to hearers. Speech turned to attack the faults of others instead provokes resistance and does harm. For idle words men must answer to God, including hard, dishonest, or exaggerated speech.
Cursing is jealous faultfinding, talebearing, gossip, and tearing brethren down to lift up self. It is accusing the brethren and questioning and finding fault with everything and with every man's teaching, and it is speaking grievances, bitterness, evil-surmising and unjust suspicion. It is watching for evil, catching at supposed evil and talking it over and feeding upon it as a sweet morsel under the tongue, presenting every act in a distorted, perverted light, and reporting matters that hurt another soul. It is misinterpreting words and deeds from a finite standpoint, letting imagination and feeling lead astray, whispering, twisting innocent words into evil, expressing doubt, backbiting, planting seeds of doubt, and cherishing or expressing unbelief. It includes envy, evil thinking, evil speaking, watching for evil, evil surmising, and striving for supremacy to build self up by tearing others down, practiced even by ministers, missionaries, and every professing church member.
Such speech sows seeds of dissension, reveals bitter envying and strife in the heart, and strengthens evil-speaking. It creates suspicion and distrust, plants bitter fibrous roots that poison faith and defile many souls, alienates brother from brother, and separates close friends. It removes the joy of the Lord from the church when the tongue is given room for this work. It hinders the work God desires done, places His servants in the worst light, and advances the enemy's work by its speakers becoming his best agents and allies as accusers of the brethren day and night. Careless expressions of doubt and accusations injure minds and hearts and, like seed, produce unbelief and apostasy when circumstances allow. Such use of the tongue sows a harvest of evils from the originator of evil, closes the field, unfits workers for mission service, and lessens influence for good in church and world. God will bring every such use of the tongue with all its consequences and results into judgment, judging not by what one once was but by what one now is.
In personal and family life impatient, fretful, angry, and cross words to family or fellow members must be restrained, for they destroy family peace and happiness. Speech reveals character and trains children by example, and position cannot make anyone fit for heaven or worthy of the crown of life. Because many sins are committed through speech, reflection before speaking is required, with avoidance of excessive or purposeless talk and with speech aimed to edify, encourage, and uplift. Sometimes silence honors God better than speaking. The tongue is to be kept bridled, with silence maintained when tempted to answer unjust treatment, and with strength sought in prayer bringing victory over the enemy. Speech governed wisely and used at the right time promotes peace and becomes an influence for good.
To preserve peace the tongue must be guarded and governed, for harsh words used to gain a point in dispute cause wounds hard to heal. Winning an argument can place a burden on another far outweighing any advantage gained. Individuality must not become prominent by insisting on having one's own way and thereby creating strife. Unless a question of vital importance is involved, personal opinion and individual preferences should be yielded and left unexpressed when expressing them would create discord. Matters that create strife must never be introduced into conversation, because they hurt one's own soul and the souls of others, and private differences should be kept to oneself and told only to God. Suspicious, critical, and harmful talk must stop, with words instead bringing peace, healing, and strength.
Blessing is building one another up in the most holy faith and helping one another day by day to grow to the full stature of men and women in Christ, which represents Christ's character to the world and closes the door to the enemy. Lives and words must have the spiritual quality needed to help preserve families from corruption and immorality. Conduct toward God and others must consistently reflect justice, generosity, tenderness, compassion, and courtesy in every part of religious life. Everlasting consequences depend on the use of the tongue, so hasty harsh speech must be confessed rather than vindicated, pride conquered, the soul humbled before God, and the King's highway cleared by respecting the Spirit's conviction. Disunion is to be removed by going directly to the one thought to have injured or to hold a grudge, refusing to brood over and nurse supposed wrongs, healing every wound with grace so no obstruction remains to corrode and break forth later, and no longer continuing at variance. Ministers especially are to build up and not tear down, speaking only words under the Holy Spirit that soften and subdue rather than aggravate and discourage fellow workers, and yielding to conviction when facts are set before them in truth. This requires guarding thoughts and controlling feelings so speech is such as heaven can approve, disciplining imagination, tongue, and mind, ceasing accusation and mischief-making and circulation of scandal, criticizing self severely instead of others, coming off the devil's ground, and making straight paths for the feet lest the lame be turned out of the way. Words are to be saved to comfort, encourage, and bless, which brings love and true elevation, with a pledge as solemn as a pledge against intoxicating liquor to speak only words pleasing to God, with coarse speech that dishonors the Spirit refined as evidence of neglected personal work, and with Christ as example who though sorely tried by sneers, taunts, and ridicule never sinned with His lips but met opposition with patient calmness and singing psalms.