What Are You Saying?

Hey, this is Tim Pratt Jr. and I want to welcome you to the Student of Life Podcast. Listen, we're going to get into so many transferable truths throughout the content of these episodes that I believe God is going to use to help you apply, because he's going to reveal what's already been there the entire time. Enjoy. Hey yo, what's up? So this is your host Tim Pratt Jr. of the Student of Life Podcast. And man, listen, I want to jump straight into this one. So actually, I did release this episode this past Monday, and I'm actually recording it live just right now. And I'll really just light editing, if not any, and then I'm publishing it basically as soon as I finish it on today, December 22nd. So it's 6:30 right now. 631, and let's go, let's go. So again, like I said, I published this one this past Monday of this week, and I let it— I think it's let it sit for a day. Typically I put publish on Mondays at midnight, like, you know, Sunday. So yeah, Monday morning, 12:01, is when I usually publish and kind of, you know, record up a few episodes from that nature. But I rushed it. I Oh man, then it's crazy. So I, I felt— I was like just praying. I was like, man, I really rushed that. I know I rushed it. And then I felt convicted because, um, I believe that it is so much substance in this. Like I said in the one I had published before, I actually had preached this a few weeks ago, if not over a month ago. And then all of a sudden, you know, this stuff broke out on social media, uh, with the TD Jakes and all of that, and a lot of hearsay stuff. I don't know I don't know. I'm not gonna put my mouth on it because I don't know. But what I'm called to do is pray for him and keep uplifting him. But it is sad if all those allegations are false and this is the society that we live in. Man, we like the gossip a lot. And I believe this episode is gonna really challenge us in that. And if it's true, man, we just have to pray for him, you know. Let me stop with the, you knows. We have to pray for him, ask that he comes to repentance, and leave it at that. But like I say, I, I don't know. Uh, I'm not here to put my mouth on him, and I'll leave it at that. Uh, but the title of this episode is What Are You Saying? What are you saying? Uh, and if you have your Bible or Bible app or anything like that, uh, just go to James 3. James 3. And I'm gonna read it. At first I was, I was gonna say, hey, you read verses, uh, 8 through 12, but I'm gonna read it from the ESV. I did. We'll jump into the content of this episode, and I'm gonna kind of condense what I preached and just go from there. So, um, James 3, uh, oh, matter of fact, oh, let me stop. Uh, so I am releasing this. I won't be doing any more podcasts, um, for the rest of this year. So I'm dropping this. Of course, I know we're close, it's the 22nd, uh, but I want to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, you know, happy holidays. To capture it all. I know we're going to more of a PC, uh, but I want to respect like Kwanzaa and all of that. But I believe in Christmas, you know, I believe it's just a day that we set aside to celebrate the birth of Jesus. And I know people give gifts in a time of giving and things like that. If you don't rock with it, that's, that's cool, you know, rock with what you believe. Uh, but that's my personal conviction. I'm not so much caught up in the actual date, uh, but it is about Jesus and just, just celebrating his birth, uh, as well as like just giving, being more generous. You know, we should have this type of heart posture all throughout the year versus just Christmas. But you know, um, society has deemed it, it's Christmas. And I know we look at Santa and all that type of stuff, but Jesus is the reason for the season. Amen. Amen. So again, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family. I hope you get some time to enjoy and just, man, reflect on the year and just be grateful, you know, what God has done for you. Now, that being said, now if you're parked at James 3, I'm gonna read verses 8 through 12 from the ESV. And it reads, we're starting at verse 8. But no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessings and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. So James is saying, man, this is weird. Like, you shouldn't even be able to do this from the same mouth. Like, just being real. And just as a thing, you know, some of us might say, well, man, I, I've said something bad, and you know, but I didn't— did— now, truthfully, we want to make sure that we don't release those things. But I would just say, what are you habitually practicing? Uh, because I've slipped up and said words I shouldn't, just keeping it real. Like, I've went off, I've said things, but it's a repentant heart because that is not something that I want to practice. That's not something that comes so loosely out of my mouth through the power of God. Amen. Amen. So, uh, so James goes on and says, uh, does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water. So kind of how I opened up, man, when we really look at this and in the context of what are we saying in this tongue, you know, I had asked the rhetorical question, uh, what is one of the smallest members— not the smallest member, but one of the smallest members on our body that gets us in the most trouble? Uh, sometimes it's responsible for the most sin just in our lives, to be real with you. And so, you know, it was rhetorical, but some people actually answered, and that was cool. But it's actually that small member of the tongue. So again, not the smallest member, but one of the smallest members on our body is that tongue. And one of the things I said, I was like, "It's time," you know, a lot of airtime, 'cause it's tucked in between our mouth, our lips. And so, you know, just whatever, a corny joke. But one of the things I looked at is that, you know, we can look historically to see how many leaders in this society, in this world, have learned to tame, uh, or conquer, like, countries, people, and on and on and on. Like, I've seen this when you look at, like, uh, older movies, uh, even modern day today. Like, you have a person that sits at the top from a hierarchical stand, and they have tamed and conquered so many people. Like, drug lords, you can go look at Adolf Hitler, you can look at movements and things like that. You can even look at the KKK. Like, just some of the corrupt, evil stuff. And then you can look at uh, Nelson Mandela and people like that in the context of just galvanizing people. Martin Luther King, um, and but then on top of that, you know, you can look at a lot of similarities in that, but also keeping in mind that some of these people, not all, but some of these people have never conquered them themselves, let alone their tongues. Like, I mean, the tongue, it like James was saying, it can be deadly. And none of us can tame it. None of us can keep this thing under control. So it's— we have to ask ourselves, what, what are we saying? Because if God is not taming it through the power of the Holy Spirit and self-discipline, then maybe it might just be doing whatever it wants to do. And again, so James has told us that God is the only one that can do this, and he can only do it through our submission to the Holy Spirit. So first, we have to be born again. We have to be believers. I don't really care how morally, by the world's standards, someone is, it is impossible to tame that tongue. And you know, I was talking to my therapist at the time, it was like 2 weeks ago from when I preached this message, but it's been over a month ago now. And you know, we were— and I need to stop that, you know, um, but we were talking and I'm not going to say what I was saying, but he was responding to something I said and the feedback went like this, uh, Tim Pratt Jr., I want to tell you, you need to learn how— basically, he was looking at it like this: don't tell me with words, don't give me words that your behavior has trained me to think otherwise. So don't, don't tell me one thing with your mouth, don't tell me one thing with your tongue when your behavior has trained me to think otherwise. But, but I like that because in, in essence, I believe that our tongue can really tell us or give us insight into who someone really is. How do they talk? How does that tongue operate? So again, what are we saying? What are we habitually saying? What are we habitually practicing? And that's what I had basically tagged the message with, Through the Power of God. So I went through 3 points, and I'll actually keep those points very similar to here. And like I said, I've kind of contextualized it for this episode because I was speaking to that local church, Through the Power of God. But point number 1, for if you are taking notes or you want to go back and just revisit it to kind of, like I say, bring all this together, words matter. So what are we saying? Words matter. We've heard that quote, sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. That's a lie. Words hurt. I mean, like right now, if I get into an argument with people I really care about and they say some stuff to me, that they know that will sting. They know how to get up under my, my buttons. They know how to push my buttons. They know how to get up under my skin, for lack of better terms. Those words are going to hurt, and they're going to hurt deeply. And then I'm going to meditate on those words. No matter how much they apologize, uh, I— and I've done this— no matter how much I apologize, the question is, man, did they really mean that? Because it came out of their mouth. And one of the things we have to understand, especially in leadership or just in general, uh, uncontrolled words and wisdom of the world will always lead to destruction. I'm gonna say that again. Uncontrolled words and wisdom of the world, not of God, will always lead to destruction. And so, so James in this chapter, uh, man, he's given us context that the tongue is very, very powerful. It's very powerful, and only God can completely control it. Again, I know I sound redundant, but we have to get that. And because when we understand that and understand that God is the only one that control it then we will become more submissive to him. We will submit to him, get into his word, and we will speak the things that he speak. We will speak as Jesus spoke. And so our words, we will come and say, man, our words really matter. What we say and what we speak matters. For example, you know, one of the things I used to say, because when I didn't understand this in, in this context, um, I used to say things like Hey, I didn't use profanity today. I didn't curse anyone out today, man, because I would curse somebody smooth out. I just didn't care. I mean, I was just reckless. And, you know, I was like, oh man, I didn't slander anybody's name today. I didn't really gossip. Oh man, I'm telling the truth. I'm not— no, I was gossiping. I've done it. I've done it on my job. I've done it in family relationships and personal relationships. I've done it. And sometimes it's like, man, no, no, I'm just stating the facts. But it's a fine line between stating the facts and telling truth. And they slipping over to that gossiping. And then what I would do is like, well, um, I didn't, I didn't do it, man. I haven't done it for a few weeks. All to basically like a week or two later, I'm right back at it, if not a few days, and sometimes even not a few hours. I did it the next time and the next time, next time. So in other words, it was like it was willpower, it was a self-effort. It was as if I was trying to deliver myself and put my standards on it. And James, you know, he, he went on to say that, man, in so many words, that's not what I'm talking about. That's not what he's talking about. Because he told us, man, it's small as, uh, help me, Holy Spirit. It's like, yeah, he's like, and, and where was it, James? Uh, where is it? Where is it? Where is it? Oh man. Yeah, can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water. These things in verse 10, he was saying they not ought to be so. And then right above that in the book of James, you know, he was telling us that it's small, but so is a bit on a horse's mouth. So is a bit on a horse's mouth, or a rudder on the ship. You know, he went on and on and on and drove this point home. So in other words, in that, that bit in that horse's mouth is what really controls it. My wife and I have went on a cruise back in 2018, late 2018, and like the rudder, like, I mean, just being on that ship and saying like relatively, uh, to the size of this ship, that rudder is super small guiding that entire trip, uh, ship. And so James is saying, man, that's what the tongue— that's how power, although it's small, it's very, very powerful. And one thing is we have to be careful, man, with our words. It's like a spark in the forest. Like, think about it, man. You, you can speak something or say something to someone, start a rumor, just like the CD Jakes thing, and then it catches fire. And now it has destroyed lives, just like a spark, like I said, in the forest that turns into a raging fire. And all of a sudden now they're telling people to evacuate, evacuate, leave your homes, because I mean, things are up in flames. Like I said, I have not seen one live, but I've seen them on TV and they are deadly. They're, they're costly, they're, they're catastrophic. I mean, they just wipe out so much. And that's showing us— that was a metaphor, but it's actually the truth— that it was showing us, man, the tongue can poison mind and assassinate characters. Like, yes, people may know my character, but if someone is assassinating it with their tongue, they have poisoned someone's mind. And those people don't really know me, they don't know you or whoever, Man, they have just assassinated the character of an individual because words matter. And so if we would operate by the wisdom of the Bible, the wisdom of God, with the help of the Holy Spirit, I'm telling you, we would use better words. Because why? We would know our words matter. We, we really would. So again, we have to ask ourselves, what are we saying? What are you saying? As my dad has said after the message, I love it, you know, he was saying that We should be saying what God is saying. And if we're in our Bible, we're in our word, and we truly love our brethren and sisters in the faith, we should be speaking what God says. I'm not saying that we can't confront and call out things and deal with things in love, but at the same time, it should be biblical and it should be as if God was speaking because we're so grounded and mature in the word. Point number 2: The tongue is like a shapeshifter. The tongue is like a shapeshifter. Now, one of the things I said, you know, if you've studied any type of comic or watched comic movies and things like that of Marvel, I think in DC, you know, Black Lightning, all those type of things, um, the shapeshifter basically could take on the identity of just about anything that it wanted. Uh, they could look like someone's wife, husband, kids, a person of interest, uh, just anything. They could take on just the similarities of, of that person. And, and a lot of times that's what our tongue can do. In other words, one of the ways is we go to the local church and we come fellowship and we say things like, yes God, we worship you, God, we love you, we adore you, we magnify your name, and we lift up our holy hands and we just praise and give you all the glory. And we're in the local church, but then in the next same breath we're gossiping about a person, we're tearing down our pastor, we're tearing down our leaders, we're tearing down our brothers and sisters in the ministry. Uh, what are saying. I mean, like I said, going back to James, he say this is not— this is not to be so. You shouldn't be able to do this. You shouldn't be able to habitually practice this. Or, I mean, if you're not convicted in stopping this in these trenches, you are a shape-shifter. It's almost as if you're wearing a reversible jersey. Like, my, my, my oldest son now, he's playing like they have the blue and the white jersey, like they don't have the reversible jersey anymore. But, but my, my, my youngest son my middle son, he, he, they still have the reversible jersey. Blue for away and home, uh, for white. So they're, it's interchangeable, it's the same jersey. And that's how a lot of us, that's our, that's how our tongue is. That's how a lot of us are in our walk with Christ, uh, but that, no, you, you gotta, no, you gotta sell out when it comes to Christ. You got to be sold out. It's like, no, I'm not doing it. I, I don't have a reversible jersey. The jersey that you see is the jersey that I'm on. I, I can't flip it or anything like that. So I'm not going to be a shapeshifter with my tongue. I'm going to be— if you see me saying yes God, Lord bless your name, and all this type of stuff, that's how I'm going to be everywhere. I'm not going to play both sides. I'm not. Because in one minute, like I say, we're tearing down the character. When we do this, we're tearing down the character of someone made in the image of God. James, this is in the Bible. This is all Bible. Because one thing we have to understand is people that have— people that have openly indulged in criticism of fellow believers have had to watch people close to them adopt the same critical spirit and wander off from the fellowship. Parents family members, co-workers who have openly indulged in criticism of other fellow family members. Kids and co-workers have had to watch people close to them adopt the same critical spirit and wander off from fellowship. So what do we have to learn to stop that? Well, some things are better left unsaid. I'm gonna say that again: some things are better left unsaid. That's what can stop us from being a shapeshifter. Because another thing, if you go to Proverbs 6:6-16, it's a list there that God hates, and 3 out of the 7 things deal with talking. And I'm gonna read them. Proverbs 6, and starting at 16: There are 6 things that the Lord hates 7 that are an abomination to him. Haughty eyes and a lying tongue, that's one, and hands that shed innocent blood. A heart that deceives, wicked plans, feet that make haste to run evil. A false witness who breathes out lies, that's two, and one who sows discord among brothers. That's Proverbs. I could say, man, God— if we rightly divide the word of God through the power of Holy Spirit, it's in there. So are we sowing discord amongst each other? Are we sowing discord amongst our, our local church family? Are we sowing discord in our family? Are we sowing discord, uh, in our secular jobs and secular arenas and things like that amongst our co-workers? What are we doing? I could say that again, like, this is not saying that you can't speak truth, but we have to be conscious and mindful of what we're saying because we don't want to tiptoe over to gossip or assassinating someone's character. And like, I work as an agile coach. I'm an agile senior manager, but I spend a lot of my time doing agile coaching and facilitating and just bridging gaps and cross-functional team coordination and things. So I have to be very, very careful because I like— I mean, I'm just being real with you, people can piss me off like just straight up. And thank God for my counselor, thank God for my wife, my prayer life, my pastor, pastors and friends and things like that. But I can go there. I have no problem with saying things that people face. A lot of stuff I just, you know, hey, it is what it is because I know me. But I have to dial it back and say, man, what am I representing here? Because I don't want to destroy my testimony. Some things I have to eat, man, that I don't want to. Like, I really do. Like, even when people come at me or they say certain things, I have to eat them because it's a soul at stake. And I'm like, man, okay, Uh, decrease me, God, and increase you. Because I want to tell them how I feel in a respectful way. I don't have to get ignorant, but I want to tell them how I feel. And sometimes it's warranted, um, in, in this proper context. Because I'm not saying I let people run over me, anything like, like that. But at the same time, I have to be mindful. What am I saying? What am I doing? Uh, is this representing Christ, or will I— am I going to destroy my testimony of this person by my words? Am I going to lose it or lose my cool? What am I saying? What am I saying? So that's like, that's why I say some things are better left unsaid. Uh, in point number 3, I'd ask this ministry, how did that come out of your mouth? How did that come out of your mouth? How does that habitually come out of your mouth? Because it would be bizarre Or weird if salt water and fresh water came out of the same spring. James said it, it would be weird. Um, I mean, I'm not sure, I don't really have— I should have probably looked for some examples or things like that, but just think about two opposite things that really can't coexist without one overtaking the other. Whatever that example is or whatever comes to mind, uh, that'd be weird. So why does it come out of our mouths? I mean, just think about it, because James is saying blessing and curses with the same tongue is only normal for so-called Christians. Not true Christians, not so-called Christians. Because a tree produces only one kind of fruit. A tree— apple tree is going to produce apples. An orange tree is going to only produce orange. That's just what it is. So if that's the case, then how is it that the tongue can produce two kinds of fruit, good and evil? How is it possible? Because he was warning us against using the tongue to produce those two opposite kinds of fruit. So we have to be mindful and say, hey, hey, now that's not— I'm— that's not coming out my mouth. And again, if we slip up or whatever, repent. Don't lead to a habitual practice of something. Just, man, this shouldn't have came out my mouth. Lord, Lord, forgive me. And then not just— don't just stop at the Lord. Go to that individual, get it right, make it right through the power of God. Because we have to understand, if things can easily and consistently come out of our mouth, our heart posture needs to be addressed. Because as Tony Evans said, production is based on what's in the inside. And we have to ask God to steer our tongue. We have to ask God to reveal these things to us. Because why is it so easy for me to just use profanity and say things? I know we have this New Age teaching to say profanity is not a sin and twist— no, I just don't believe in it. I should— we shouldn't be just casually and loosely using that. I, I don't, I don't think— I, I just, whatever, you know, that's them. That's what I— my conviction is no. That's what Paul was talking about with corrupt language. I don't care what theologian or whoever say that, uh, man, you don't understand it contextual. Well, we just have to debate it to the cows come home. Like, seriously. So don't look at someone that just uses profanity or gossip, but you keep revisiting things that add no value to the kingdom of God. And what I mean by that, you can say, okay, oh, well, they, they use profanity, they, uh, they're gossiping, they're doing this, man, they're saying all of this stuff. But you're saying a lot of things that don't add no value to the kingdom of God that might not be that. So examine yourself. Let us all— it's all inclusive— let us examine ourselves, because this is something that we have to get under control through the power of God. So again, man, people, uh, man, I just want to encourage you and at the same time challenge you, just as God has challenged me through this. Stop and take some time and ask, what, what, what are we saying? What are you saying? What are you habitually saying? Are you saying the things of God and speaking the things of God in love and truth and demonstrating grace? Or speaking the things in grace and truth and demonstrating love? Because all things should be motivated by love, all while grace and, uh, truth are present. So again, ask, what are you saying? What are you saying? What are you saying? I hope this blessed you. I hope it challenged you to just really think and go into the new year with just like, man, I'm going to be more conscious of the things that come out of my mouth. I want to speak the things of God, true things of God, not just loosely clichés and things like that, but truly speaking from the heart posture of scripture and just biblical wisdom through the power of the Holy Spirit. So just be conscious, man, of what you're sharing, uh, how you're talking to people, and just challenge yourself and be on guard and have that accountability partner. So be blessed, man. I love you all. I pray that you enjoyed this episode. Uh, until next year, man, we're gonna come out and I'm gonna start back blogging. I'm gonna start about actually writing next year. So other than that, man, be blessed. I love you all. Take care. Praying for you all. Enjoy your family, and most importantly, man, give praises and glory to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Hey, what's up? I want to thank you for taking the time to listen to the Student Life Podcast today. If this content has impacted you in any kind of way, please take some time to share it on your social media feeds. And also, if you want to connect with me or just learn more about me, go over to www.timothypratt.org. Once again, thanks.