Proverbs 18:21 “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

At 29:45 past 5 AM on July 16, 1945, something spectacular happened. In northern New Mexico, the still dark early morning sky became as bright as the noonday sun. In that one blinding flash, the Atomic Age had begun. The atomic fireball shot upwards at 360 feet per second destroying everything around it. J Robert Oppenheimer, the scientist who oversaw the building of the bomb, famously said this about his creation after the first test detonation: “Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.” On December 20, 1951, something else spectacular happened. In Arco, Idaho, the still dark sky was also brightened with light. It was brightened by light bulbs powered by the first electricity produced from nuclear energy. The uranium used to produce that electricity, is the same uranium that is used in the atomic bomb. The exact same science is used in the reactor and the bomb, the same atoms and electrons, the same reactions and physics. So, what’s the difference? It’s in how they’re used. When used one way, atomic energy powers homes and lights up the dark. But when used another way, it produces death and destruction. Like atomic energy, the tongue is capable of life and death, are your words like a power plant that lights up lives around you or a bomb that levels and destroys life? Looking around at our country it is sad to see how many people are trashing each other with their tongues. Jesus said that what is in a person’s heart inevitably comes out of his mouth. Just like water flowing from a well, the words that come out of the mouth reveal the purity of the source. So, what lessons are your lips teaching? Are your words criticizing and condemning? Are you manipulating and control people like chess pieces or moving people toward God? Do you light fires of gossip or fan their flames? Are you spreading righteousness or rumors? Does your language glorify God or sound like garbage? Because people who walk in truth don’t talk trash. Does your speech compromise God and put others down so you can look good? Do you speak words of praise or spit wounding poison? So, what do we do if our speech is more harmful than helpful? Let me give you several principles that if put into practice will moved your mouth from misery to ministry:

• Confess your sinful speech.

Admit your sin and seek God’s forgiveness as well as the forgiveness of those whose hearts you have hurt. You can’t tame the tongue it comes when we submit to the Holy Spirit. It starts with Salvation and continues with submission. Its more than just trusting Jesus for eternal life its letting Him be the Lord of your life. Because either Satan or the Holy Spirit is controlling your speech.

• T-H-I-N-K….. before you speak.

“T” Is it True? – “H” Is it Helpful? – “I” Is it Inspiring? – “N” Is it Necessary? -“K” Is it Kind?

Thoughtless tongues react, but tongues trained in truth respond. Learn to filter your thoughts through truth before they hit your tongue. Why do we react instead of respond because we are filtered things through our feelings instead of our Father.

• Let your life do the talking not your lips.

Learn to exercise your life more than your lips. Don’t mouth what you don’t model.

• Learn to muzzle your mouth

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt. Lean on wisdom more than words. Because wisdom doesn’t just know what words to use but also when to use them.

• Use you Lips for Love

THE POWER OF THREE LITTLE WORDS

Psalms 19:14 May these words of my mouth & this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

If you want to HURT someone, the tongue is much more effective than THE FIST is. If you want to APOLOGIZE to someone, all the flowers in the world won’t accomplish what three little words like, “I AM SORRY’ can do. Some of the most significant messages people mouth can come in just 3 words. Words have the power to forge new friendships, deepen old ones and restore relationships.

I’LL BE THERE – Being there for another person is the greatest gift we can give. When we are Truly Present for other people, important things happen to them and to us. We are renewed in love & friendship. We are restored emotionally and spiritually.

I MISS YOU – More marriages & friendships could be Salvaged and Strengthened if people Simply, Sincerely said to each other, “I miss you.” This affirmation tells partners they are wanted, needed, desired & loved.

I RESPECT YOU – Respect is another way of showing LOVE and the feeling that another person is a TRUE EQUAL.

MAYBE YOU’RE RIGHT – This phrase is highly effective in diffusing an argument & restoring frayed emotions. The flip side of “maybe you’re right” is the humility of admitting “Maybe I’m Wrong.”

PLEASE FORGIVE ME – Many broken relationships could be restored & healed if people would admit their mistakes and ask for forgiveness. All of us are vulnerable to faults and failures. A person should never be ashamed to admit they have been in the wrong, which is by saying that they are wiser today than they were yesterday.

I THANK YOU – Gratitude is an exquisite form of courtesy. People who enjoy the companionship of good, close friends are those who don’t take daily courtesies for granted. They are quick to thank their friends for their many expressions of kindness. Do you have an attitude of gratitude?

COUNT ON ME – “A FRIEND IS ONE WHO WALKS IN WHEN OTHERS WALK OUT.” ” Loyalty is an essential ingredient for true friendship; Those who are rich in their relationships tend to be steady and true friends. When troubles come, a good friend is there, indicating “You Can Count On Me.”

LET ME HELP – The best of friends see a need and try to fill it. When they spot a hurt, they do what they can to heal it. Without being asked, they pitch in and help.

I UNDERSTAND YOU – People become closer & enjoy each other more if they feel the other person accepts and understands them. Letting others know in so many little ways that you understand him or her is one of the most powerful tools for healing your relationship.

GO FOR IT – Some of your friends may be non-conformists, they may have unique projects and unusual hobbies. Support them in pursuing their interests. Rather than urging your loved ones to conform, encourage their uniqueness, everyone has dreams that no one else has.

I LOVE YOU – Probably the three most powerful words on the planet. We all desire to be loved and to belong. Are you loving others with your life and your lips?

John 13:34–35 – “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another”

At the Last Supper, Jesus gave His disciples this commandment, love one another. This wasn’t a suggestion or a call based on how they felt but a command, something to be obeyed not delayed. A distinguishing feature of Christians should be their love for one another. Jesus wants His followers to be bound not primarily by service, command, family, nationality, pledge, race, interest, or anything else, but by love. In giving this command, Jesus did something the world had never seen before, He created a group identified by one thing: love. There are many groups in the world today, and they identify themselves by skin color, shared interests, by alma mater, even those who abstain from meat. In truth the ways people categorize themselves are endless. But the church is unique because for the first and only time in history, Jesus created a group whose identifying factor is love. Skin color or native language doesn’t matter only our love for each other. When we try to define ourselves by anything other than love we end up dividing ourselves. Instead of coming together we create clicks. Jesus calls us to love because He wants His followers to care for each other on the deepest levels. Our love for one another flows out of our love for God, which is a result of God’s love for us as 1 John 4:19 tells us, “We love because he first loved us.” John, one of Jesus’ disciples, reminds us of this truth in 1 John 4:10–11, 21,  “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. … And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother” So why is the church trying to define itself by something other than love? And when we do are we not caving and conforming to the culture around us that is defining itself by everything other than love? When the Holy Spirit appeared at Pentecost, people were gathered from all over the world. Acts 2:9-11 reminds us that there were, “Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” These were people from other nations of different races with varied interests and backgrounds. Yet according to Acts 2:44-45, once they were bound in Christ, they began serving each other, pooling their resources, and giving to those in need, “And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.” This was love in action. So why when we have both Christ’s clear command as well as a practical working model do we decide to define ourselves by other things? In truth I think it’s because we all desperately want to belong, but we listen to the call of the culture instead of Christ. So, we cave to the culture because we feel like we somehow have more in common based on our groups than we do in Christ. We define ourselves by singleness, or college age, young marrieds, empty nesters, or even widows. As a result, we segregate the church. Our cultural segregation is just a reflection of our church segregation. The question is are we going to be defined by the call of culture or the command of Christ? Not only did Jesus give us the command to love each other he also gave us the model, “Love one another just as I have loved you.” Our love should reflect Christ not the culture. So how does Jesus love us? First He loves unconditionally as Romans 5:8 reminds us, “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Love choses to care unconditionally, which is not only radical but counter cultural. We will always put conditions on love until we truly experience Christ and His unconditional love. Are you limited love with your conditions or are you caring for others with Christs unconditional love? Not only is His love unconditional but according to 2 Corinthians 5:21 its also sacrificial, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Caring is going to cost you. The problem is we want an easy love that doesn’t cost, but that’s a cheap love not a Christlike love. Do you have a sacrificial or selfish love? Christ’s love also focuses on forgiveness,  just as Ephesians 4:32 calls us to “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Forgiveness focuses on letting go not trying to make people pay for past sins. Right now, many of you may be asking but how in our present political climate do we live out this love? We can only do it as we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. Our choice to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading and Jesus’ instruction in the Word of God gives us the ability to follow His example. Several years ago, I organized 33 men from our church to drive from Nebraska to New Orleans to help rebuild after the devastation on Katrina. I will n ever forget the statement one of the residents made to me when we pulled up to fix their home, “I knew there was a God when you white boys showed up to fix my house” No one of any other race had stepped foot in our neighborhood for over 20 years. So why were we there, one word, LOVE. What is driving your decisions, is it race or is it grace, is it compassion or is it the culture? We are called to love each other, our neighbors, and according to Matthew 5:43-48, even our enemies. What does this sort of love look like, 1 Corinthians 13:4–8 gives us a detailed description: “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.” Loving one another the way Christ loved us is only possible with the supernatural power of God. Jesus not only gives us the command to love one another, He also gives us the power to do it. What are you going to be defined by, your political persuasions or Christ’s love? Is your identity wrapped up in your nationality, your sex, your education, your race or in your Redeemer? I am a child of God who chooses to live out Christ’s love in a broken world. I want the legacy that I leave to be one of love.