1 Peter 3:8-12

8 Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. 9 Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing. 10 For the Scriptures say,

“If you want to enjoy life
    and see many happy days,
keep your tongue from speaking evil
    and your lips from telling lies.
11 Turn away from evil and do good.
    Search for peace, and work to maintain it.
12 The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right,
    and his ears are open to their prayers.
But the Lord turns his face
    against those who do evil.

Submit to seeking and speaking peace requires us to not only submit our sensibilities but also to:

2. Submit our speech

Your speech can serve to heal others or hurt them. The book of James teaches some tough lessons on the tongue. It tells us that we can use the tongue for evil or for edification. You can build up or belittle, your speech can sooth or sour. The tongue can alleviate or aggravate a problem. Are you going to speak peace or pain? You are either going to fill and follow God’ prescription for peace or perpetuate the pain. Peter calls us to pay attention to what we say, he calls us to pursue pure speech and not a potty mouth, yet many of us instead of dealing with the dirt want to dismiss it. Why is our speech so important, because the source of our speech is the heart, what you say springs from the heart. Not only does Peter talk about the putdowns and the potty mouth but he also talks to us about telling the truth. You are either going to tell the truth or live a lie. Why is dishonesty so destructive because it destroys the foundation of relationships trust. Words can built bridges or words can build walls. Are you going to train the tongue or turn it loose? How are you going to handle the hurts, you can respond with retribution and retaliate or you can choose reconciliation. You can have an attitude of attacking or anointing? So often in our relationships we make it about winning instead of obedience to the word, and when we do we end up focusing on our wounds and we use our words for war. If you want to be a blessing then you need to take time to train your tongue. Following God’s plan is a step of faith, if I submit to serving what if people take advantage of me? Scripture says God will sees and reward, why are we so fearful of walking by faith when we know God will be faithful? Now what will happens if we submit to self, and chose to get even, we will ruin our relationships. We say we not going to submit to God’s way because we are afraid it won’t work out and then chose a path that’s guaranteed to fail, who is the fool?  Here is the question that we need to ask what kind of legacy do we want to leave, one of love or lust, giving or grabbing, building up or belittling, are you going to bless others or bruise them?