Dealing With The Root

We have already seen that the root of every problem affecting our tongues is in our hearts. Obviously, this means that in order to deal with problems affecting our tongues we must first deal with the root problems in our hearts.

We considered the three steps we must take to deal with these root problems in our hearts that are manifested through our tongues. First, call your problem by its right name, which is sin. Come to the moment of truth. God will only deal with you on the basis of truth. God is the God of truth. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth.

Second, confess and receive forgiveness and cleansing on the basis of the promise in 1 John 1:9:

“If we confess our sins, [God] is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (NAS)

God not only forgives the past, He cleanses the heart so that the problem itself is dealt with at the root. Then there is a change in the fruit that comes out of the heart.

Third, refuse sin, and yield to God. Say "no" to sin and "yes" to God. Refuse sin and yield to the Holy Spirit. The only power in the universe that can control your tongue effectively for good is the Holy Spirit.

Let us deal more fully with the positive aspect of this third step: yielding our tongues to God. We need to understand the real reason why the Creator gave each of us a mouth with a tongue in it. There is an answer to this in Scripture but it is one of those interesting examples of truth in Scripture that can only be found by comparing two passages of Scripture and setting them side by side. As we do this, there comes a revelation that is not given to us solely in one of the two passages.

We will study this more in-depth next time.