Hello, Chicas!

Today we are going to be discussing words, or to be more precise: bad words.

“Hold on, ‘bad words’? This isn’t the first grade! I think I can choose my own vernacular, thank you very much”

Okay, before you hand in the towel, hear me out…because I believe we need to place more importance on words than we do. I firmly believe the Bible is quite clear on this subject, and purging the venom from our vernacular is worth more than a fleeting thought.

– The first thing we need to consider before we proceed, is that words in and of themselves are not evil. Sounds and syllables can not be evil any more than an inanimate object can be evil. However; sounds, syllables, and inanimate objects can all be used for evil by humans.

As christians under liberty, we are not given specific commandment as to which words are to be restricted in our speech – but – as children born of the spirit, we ought to have wise discernment of our own attitudes and why we say every word we say. What is the source of our words? If we are speaking out of anger, pride, and contention, then we can know that any words we say, (whether labeled as a “swear” word or otherwise) stem from evil in our hearts and are surely not from God.
Jesus explains this in Matthew 12:35:

“A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things”

He then continues with a warning in vs. 36-37:

“But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”

Ouch. Is it true we will be condemned by careless words?

Let a resounding “yes” commence, for Jesus could not be any more plain! Now, with this knowledge, is it not true that we ought to pay special attention to each word that escapes our mouth? If we truly believe the words of our Savior, then again the answer is yes! Rather than being careless with our words we ought to be careful each and every time we speak. Hard as it may be, that often means biting our tongue, chicas.

You know the pattern – many of us ladies are guilty of speaking hastily out of frustration, while being sweet as can be when we’re cooled off. Let’s face it, though; being “sweet” does not erase damage caused by words spoken out-of-turn, nor does doing right when it’s easy make it alright to go off the handle when the going gets tough. Consider James 3:10-11:

“Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?”

This “fountain” James speaks of is the human heart; the water, our words. It is not practical for liquid to be only “partially” contaminated. A fountain can either be contaminated or safe, but there is no middle ground. It is the same with our hearts. Can we be 90% sweet while 10% bitter? No! 10% bitter is essentially equal to 100% bitter: because the poison has contaminated the whole fountain.

There are many ways in which our hearts (and furthermore, lips) can proclaim evil.

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Maybe we struggle with speaking out of anger. Let us ponder this wisdom of Solomon from Proverbs 14:16-17a:

“A wise man feareth, and departeth from evil: but a fool rageth, and is confident. He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly…”

Sometimes when we are angry the best method is to remove ourselves from the scene momentarily. I have found that often a little distance is just what is needed to look objectively on the frustrating situation at hand. There is no shame in taking a little breather…let us be as the wise man who “departs from evil” lest we “deal foolishly”!
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Perhaps our words have just become downright foolish. Perhaps we have not spent enough time in God’s word and instead of heaping knowledge and understanding to ourselves we have grown dull and complacent, affecting our hearts (and affecting our lips). Let’s hear it from Solomon again in Proverbs 10:13-14 followed by 15:7:

“In the lips of him that hath understanding wisdom is found: but a rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding. Wise men lay up knowledge: but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction.”

“The lips of the wise disperse knowledge: but the heart of the foolish doeth not so.”

Notice the phrase “lay up knowledge”. How do we do this? By dwelling in God’s word of course! We can get out of the rut of foolish speech by adding to ourselves wisdom from the Bible. The result? We will “disperse knowledge”!
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Maybe our problem is that we have pride in our hearts. Remember, our words come from the abundance of our heart, and what is in the heart will eventually come out of the mouth. In Ecclesiastes 10:12-14 we read:

“The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself. The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness: and the end of his talk is mischevious madness. A fool also is full of words: a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him?”

Proverbs 14:3

“In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride: but the lips of the wise shall preserve them.”

Proverbs 30:32
“If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, lay thine hand upon thy mouth.”

I see a pattern here, do you? The wise man is gracious, and preserves words of boasting, while the foolish man runs off at the mouth, proclaiming his own perceived “greatness”. If we are honest with ourselves, we will realize that ultimately we are small in the presence of God, and we must descrease – He must increase! The blessings we have come from The Lord’s hand. When we are tempted to magnify ourselves, we must stop and take a look at who He is again – and glorify Him!
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Lastly, many of us simply struggle with talking too much, period. Our words don’t neccesarily have to be filled with anger, foolishness, or pride…but sometimes we can be foolish simply by speaking unneccesarily.

Proverbs 17:27-28
“He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit. Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.”

Proverbs 29:11
“A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it till afterwards.”

Proverbs 10:19
“In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.”

For some of us, it might be neccesary to simply practice being quiet. It is not wise to constantly be speaking, for if we do all the talking, how will we ever hear? If we do not hear, then how will we ever learn? We are not called to never speak, but by the same token we certainly are not wise if we are always speaking. It’s important to find a balance.
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Let us not continue to be plagued with a venomous vernacular. Rather, in the spirit of Philippians 4:8, let us fill our hearts with thoughts of the true, the honest, the just, the pure, the lovely, the reputable, the virtuous, and the praiseworthy. Our mouth will reflect the condition of our regenerated heart, we will be a glory to our Lord, and we will be a blessing to all who hear us.

God bless, and take a chill pill!

CA Bolks

Chelsea Bolks is a church of Christ minister’s wife and the home educating mother of two children. She and her family currently reside in Northwest Iowa.

Old. Rusted. Worn out. Dilapidated. Broken. Falling apart. Trashed. Totaled.

These are some words that come to mind when I think of a vehicle on its very last leg. Oh you know…the kind that you see going by behind a tow truck as you cringe, wondering “woah, what happened to that thing?”

Most of us were at some point that car. The one seemingly trashed and totaled beyond repair. The beater. (1 Cor. 6:11) However, when we became christians our God stepped in as the Skilled Mechanic and twisted us and turned us into shape until we became a shiny new piece…His remodel. (Mal. 3:3, Gal. 2:20)

Even so, we often forget what He has done for us. Why is this? How do we get so wrapped up in the mundane that we lose sight of Him?

The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts. – Psalms 10:5

Wicked? Sounds a bit harsh perhaps, but think about it – if we are truly regenerated, will spiritual thoughts be so far removed from us? Will choosing righteousness over sin take immense effort? Will bible reading and prayer be mediocre? Will sitting in church bore us to tears? Sisters, how can these things be? How can these things be, unless…we have left our first love.

For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s. – Philippians 2:21

It is no wonder God uses marriage to illustrate the love we ought to have for Him (2 Cor. 11:2, Is. 54:5, Eph. 5:32), for it should be obvious if we have true affection for our Love! What do you expect a young man to do if his sweetheart utterly ignores him, is unphased by him, and acts no different as his girl than if she were single? She would get kicked to the curb, would she not? In the same way, God knows whether we are truly in love with Him or if we’re wasting His time.

If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god; Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart. – Ps. 44:20-21

We should never take for granted all that the Father has done for us. We deserved death, but when we were baptized he gave us LIFE! (Rom. 6:4) This should make us want to go above and beyond what is expected and on to fruitful living, but when we are unphased by God we become unchanged for God. If we are not in awe of the goodness of our Lord, we will neglect to imitate Him. Children imitate who they admire, whether a good influence or bad. Is it not the same with us? Who/what is it that we admire? What has our heart? If it’s not the Lord than we need to make a change.

If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy. – Psalms 137:6

A marriage cannot thrive on apathy, and neither can our relationship with God! If our love for Him starts to slip, so will our behavior, and if our behavior starts to slip, we will surely be sliding down a perilous path. We must return to the zealous faith we once held!

My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. – 1 John 3:18

Dig into His word and search out all the marvelous things the Lord has done for His people – including US! A great place to start is the 136th Psalm. It is rich with the goodness of our God.

Material wealth, earthly relationships, times of peace….these things can all be taken away in the blink of an eye. Let us not put our faith in these. Let us put our faith in the One who never fails. May we never become a people who are unphased or unchanged – for we do not want to be those who are unsaved. Let us seek God with our whole hearts, and continually remember all He has done on our behalf.

Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his face continually. Remember his marvellous works that he hath done, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth; – 1 Chronicles 16:11-12

Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. – Psalms 199:2

God bless, and take a chill pill!

CA Bolks

Chelsea Bolks is a church of Christ minister’s wife and the home educating mother of two children. She and her family currently reside in Northwest Iowa.

“A man takes his seat at the World Cup Final. He looks to his left and notices that there is a spare seat between himself and the next guy.

Man # 1 says: Who would ever miss the World Cup final?

Man # 2: That was my wife’s seat. We have been to the last five World Cup finals together, but sadly she passed away.

Man # 1: That’s terrible, but couldn’t you get another member of the family, friend, or someone else to come with you?

Man # 2: No…they are all at the funeral!”
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Well girls, it’s that time of year again…football season. While hopefully no one reading this is such a die-hard fan they would miss their spouse’s funeral for a game, I would like to use this joke to illustrate the need for proper priorities in the life of the christian.

I don’t attend a lot of football games, but I can’t say I don’t enjoy them when I do. The atmosphere is simply one of a kind. The chill of the Autumn air, the fresh scent of delicious foods from the concession stand, the team spirit that unites each person in their respective side of the bleachers. Yet even in the midst of the experience, every single time I am at a football game an overwhelming sense of disappointment washes over me. I can’t help but to think of how MUCH excitement a piece of leather kicked across a yardline brings to people, and how LITTLE excitement the gospel often brings to the same crowd.

Why is it so easy to be first in line at a football game, but so hard to be up in time for church?

Why is it so easy to check up on the scores for our favorite team, but so hard to look up passages in God’s word?

Why is it so easy to stand and cheer for an athlete, but so hard to kneel and pray in thanksgiving to the King of Kings?

The answer is quite simple: Priorities. Every person has them, including me. For instance, washing my dishes is high priority for me; sweeping the floor? Not so much. A silly example perhaps, but that is my point…worldly priorities are of little importance, and whether we like to hunt, fish, shop, scrapbook, knit, play an instrument, watch sports or anything else, these are liberties that the Lord gives us for our enjoyment and are not evil in and of themselves. There is no sin in watching the game. Rather, what I want to put forth as a reminder is simply this: what is our TOP priority? Are we more concerned with touchdowns, or touchups? (On our faith, that is) – 2 Timothy 2:15

Remember, Jesus warns: “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also”. (Matt. 6:21) We ought to find our full satisfaction in Christ, and not in worldly pleasures. A little liesurely enjoyment may be harmless, but be cautious – if we are “too busy” to find time to read the bible, pray, assemble with the saints, or help our fellow man, then it is high time to eliminate some unneccesary activities!

“…whoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.” (Mark 8:35b)

I want to encourage each and every one of you that has perhaps been negligent in touching up on their faith.

Do you have a hard time remembering to read the bible? Put it in a place that you will easily see it so that you remember to daily brush up on God’s word. Set up a reminder on your mobile device! Find a system that works for you! Can’t find time to pray? Turn the radio off and pray when you drive…pray when you fold laundry…make it a priority! It will soon become habitual and you will learn to find enjoyment in praying the more you engage yourself in the act. Contrary to popular belief, religion is not about feelings but rather about actions. It is not wise to act upon our feelings, but ironically, if we act on what we know is right, good feelings will follow!

If you have to choose between the funeral (the cross) and the game (worldly pleasures), choose the funeral. Always choose Jesus (our bridegroom) – for the game is temporal…He is eternal!

God bless, and take a chill pill!

CA Bolks

Chelsea Bolks is a church of Christ minister’s wife and the home educating mother of two children. She and her family currently reside in Northwest Iowa.