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[0:00] This morning, go over to James chapter 1. James chapter 1 this morning, and I'm going to spend a few moments here as we look into God's Word. You know, the reality is that words carry a heavy responsibility.

[0:17] You know, the Bible reminds us of the impact of things that are spoken, the word itself, you know, the power of speech that takes place because the words we speak carry a heavy responsibility attached to them.

[0:32] When we understand the necessity of words, because words are one of our primary means of communication, of expressing those things that we want to get across to others, and the power of speech, I don't know if you've taken time to think about it, the power of speech was seen from the very beginning.

[0:53] You know, when you consider in the Scripture, it tells us the very first chapter of the Bible talks about speech. It says, and God said, and there was light.

[1:06] And God said, there was the sun and the moon. You think about what God said, by the Word of God, the world was framed. We see from the very beginning of the Scripture the importance of what is said, the power of what is said, because words have power behind them.

[1:25] And in our culture, even today, this last week, you saw the impact of words and communication. Good, bad, and ugly.

[1:35] Words carry with them a lot of power. And this dynamic of communication, and when we understand that why we can't do what God did and create with our words, nevertheless, the words we use, our communication is still very powerful, because it impacts the world around us.

[1:58] It impacts families. You know, we've been looking at the impact of things within families and marriages in these past few weeks. I want you to understand, the words we speak within a marriage not only impact the marriage, it impacts the kids.

[2:15] It impacts what the kids say to somebody else. The snowball effect, you might say, is great. The words we use are very powerful things as we confer and communicate those things in our words.

[2:31] It's through the words that communication transpires. I mean, we see that whether it's written words or verbal words. Words are the means of communication.

[2:42] And we see that throughout from the very beginning. And it tells us Webster's Dictionary defines communication as this. It's the act of imparting, conferring, or delivering from one to another.

[2:56] As of knowledge, you know, we use words to confer knowledge and information to people. Opinion, you know. I don't think you have to go very far to find out people have opinions.

[3:11] You know, and we express that with words, but also just facts. You know, here's the truth. Here's what it is, you know. We understand there's lots of things in this life that are just facts, you know.

[3:23] We understand that it is what it is. There's nothing that is going to change that dynamic. But when we understand how communication impacts relationships at the very core level, starting within the marriage of two people, a man and a woman, and the communication is important.

[3:46] Or even in our other relationships, those parents' communication to their children. You know, they're learning, they're teaching, they're forming opinions, they're forming their mindset of the world.

[3:59] But our words don't just impact relationships. I want you to understand your words impact your testimony. Your words impact your testimony. Because if you say that you love God, what you say impacts that testimony.

[4:15] It impacts how it is perceived by others, how it is understood by others, how it's reacted to. Because words are a powerful thing and tool that God gives us.

[4:27] Because how and what we communicate sets the tone of relationships. The means of communication sets a tone in a relationship.

[4:39] Of how people communicate back and forth. And it's either calms or creates conflict. It's either warm or it becomes weary.

[4:54] It's either understanding or it becomes unbearable. Words have extreme impacts upon us.

[5:06] You know, when we understand the importance of what we say, one has said this, he says, We ought to think about everything you speak, but speak not all that you think.

[5:19] Thoughts are your own and your words are not so no more. You know? One of the things we need to learn today is just because you think it doesn't mean you need to say it.

[5:32] Words need to be chosen of what is said. When we see the importance within the scripture here, this morning, James gives us some insight into communication.

[5:46] Some practical advice about our communication. Because it applies to our interactions with people, but especially within relationships that are personal.

[5:58] And especially marriages. And you know, it's hard to express how important proper communication is in a relationship. Especially in a marriage. Because it's between a husband and a wife.

[6:10] That communication impacts how their children communicate. Which impacts generations to come. When we see this picture, but take a look here.

[6:20] If you found James chapter 1 this morning, let's stand together in the reading of God's Word here today. And we find here that James tells us simply this.

[6:32] He says, Let's pray.

[6:47] Heavenly Fathers, we take a few moments here this morning to look into the reality of communication. The words that we use. Lord, how we ought to receive them.

[6:59] How we ought to communicate those responses. Lord, how we ought to form our thinking in regard to our communication. Lord, I pray this would work upon each heart, each life here today to understand the necessity and what power we have in words.

[7:16] And even the power that words have upon them. And Lord, as we might understand your order of how to properly put these things into practice in our life.

[7:28] And Lord, we just ask your hand upon these things today. And Lord, we just give you all the praise and glory and honor. In Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. You know, as we see here, James is writing to believers about their communication.

[7:44] Their communication with others. And he's also directly comparing this passage. Oftentimes we apply it practically to us. But I want you to understand the application of this passage really applies first directly to the Word of God.

[8:00] To hear what God has to say about something. You know, to hear and to understand what God's Word has put forth. Because oftentimes we're more anxious to try to tell God what he might have meant instead of saying, God, what did you mean?

[8:15] What did you want us to apply? And how do you want us to understand this? What are you communicating to us? And we see here that he's applying this practically in our lives, principally to the Word of God, but also in our communication to others.

[8:34] Especially as we interact with others. It's because when we understand this by the Bible that God has communicated his plan to redo us. Without the Scripture, we wouldn't know how to be saved.

[8:46] That communication is important. Just like our communication with others is so critical. And what it means we need to listen and understand before we respond.

[9:00] Look at the first thing that he points out here in verse 19. He says, My beloved brethren, let every man be what? Swift to hear.

[9:11] To be swift to hear. To be quick to hear. Because the reality is this. Listening cultivates understanding. It helps us to grab a hold of what is important.

[9:22] Those elements in that. And we see here that listening is not something though we naturally like to do. You know, listening is not natural to us.

[9:35] Because by nature, we want to express our opinion. We want to push our thought. We want to push what we think. Listening is important.

[9:46] It's critical. And he says that we ought to be swift to hear. To be quick. In other words, that would be the first thing that would come to mind. To train our minds.

[9:57] To say, I want to hear what's being communicated. Because communication is critical. Especially within a marriage. Communication is often hard.

[10:09] Because many times, I think, the problem with marriages sometimes. As young people, we build relationships on activities. Busyness. We like hanging out together.

[10:22] That's good. Because I'm a firm proponent. You ought to want to hang out with the person you get married to. It helps. All the people who have been married a while all chuckled.

[10:32] But I want you to understand, it's hard because sometimes it's built on busyness and not communication. They haven't really talked about or spoken about what they really believe or been honest with one another.

[10:48] Honesty is part of communication. And listening to what the other one's saying. Because when they get married, they find out quickly they need to understand how to communicate.

[11:02] Because life changes. Now you have all sorts of processes and priorities. You say, preacher, what are you talking about? Well, it comes down to simple things like who's going to pay the bills? Communication is important.

[11:14] You know, who's going to take out the trash? You know, don't take out the trash and find out what happens to communication. You know, we can chuckle. But, you know, really communication is the most basic level.

[11:25] It's a basic building block of our relationships one with another. You know, when you have the need to love and respect each other, it's through listening and communicating that you get those things in order.

[11:41] You must take time to listen. You must be intentional. You know? Think about it. Even in the scripture, Jesus points out the importance of wanting to listen even in the midst of busyness.

[11:52] Look over to Luke chapter 10 this morning. Luke chapter 10. We find over here in Luke chapter 10 that there's a story about two sisters. Mary and Martha.

[12:03] And I want you to note something here that we'll find in this passage. Because we find that the one sister gets mad at the other sister and begins to communicate negatively over the fact that the one sister wants to listen.

[12:16] But she wants activity. She wants busyness. Now, I want you to understand, there's things that need to be done. But notice the Bible tells us what? To be swift. To do what?

[12:27] Hear. When we understand what's happening, notice here in verse 39. Notice where she was.

[12:41] She was sitting at Jesus' feet to do what? To hear. To see what Jesus had to say. But Martha was cumbered about with much serving and came in and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone?

[12:59] Bid her therefore that she help me. Now, there's some communication from family, right? That's good sibling communication. But notice Jesus' response.

[13:10] He says, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things, but one thing is needful. What's the needful connected to? Hearing.

[13:22] She needed to know and to find out what she needed before she did. You know? It says, Mary hath chosen the good part which shall not be taken away from her.

[13:35] You know, when it comes to listening, listening to the Word of God and what God has said is the most important thing we can do in life. When we know that that's the critical element because you need to ask yourself, you know, how is your hearing?

[13:53] How is your listening? Is that what you want to do first or what comes later? That idea of communication is essential and many problems can be resolved when we listen.

[14:05] Are you listening to understand? Now, I'll hit the other side of that because you have two choices. You either listen to understand or you listen to respond.

[14:15] You know, most of us, by nature, love to listen to it so we can get our response ready. I'm just as guilty as the rest of you. But you have to form your thinking to say, I want to listen, to understand, and hear what the other person...

[14:30] You know, when you hear what the other person has to say, it helps you formulate the right response. To understand what is appropriate, what is needful at this moment, and not just what you're spewing past one another.

[14:45] You know, one of the problems with social media today, it's to the point, I don't even ever respond on social media. But the one thing I've noticed that always stands out is people scream past one another.

[14:56] Nobody ever really communicates that. They're spending time making my point and never paying attention to what the other person's really saying. They have all their little quips and responses, you know, of names they call one another and all the different dynamics.

[15:11] But you know what the biggest problem is? Nobody's listening. Everybody's speaking. Nobody's hearing. The problem with that is now it transposes over into our actual relationships.

[15:26] Where people are talking past one another instead of taking time to be swift, to be quick, to hear.

[15:37] Not for the purpose of responding, but to understand. To understand what's being said. You know, we need to understand the essential.

[15:47] It's essential to prioritize listening. Be swift to hear. That word swift carries with it a priority. In other words, it says this is where I want to go to quickly as soon as it starts.

[16:02] That's the dynamic that we see, but we also need to be slow to speak. Those two go together because you know what happens? When you're talking, you can't hear. We like to think we can.

[16:12] I'm a great multitasker. No, you know what's happening? You're hearing words, but you're not processing. You're processing things, but we need to be slow to speak to choose your words wisely.

[16:25] You know, one of the biggest things we need to do is understand the power of words. You know, I found a little saying I thought fit this pretty good.

[16:36] It says this, it has been said that we need to be sure to taste our words before we spit them out. I'm like, wow, that's a powerful thought. Because words can be very bitter. Words can be angry.

[16:48] But our words ought to serve a purpose to love and to build others up, to deal with the issue at hand. Because what I'm saying here is not that every conversation is going to be easy, but that our words need to be measured.

[17:04] Our words need to be intentional of what we're saying. Turn to Colossians chapter 4. Colossians chapter 4 and look at verse 6 here. God's word tells us this, It says, let your speech be always seasoned with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man.

[17:26] Now we understand the principle here. Because the principle goes to that which we eat or taste. Have you ever realized how important salt is?

[17:38] Salt is a powerful dynamic on food. Have you ever had something that's supposed to have salt in it and didn't have salt? A lack of salt makes something unpalatable.

[17:51] But on the same token, too much salt quickly makes something unpalatable. It says seasoned. When you season something, what's your objective? You know, all the cooks in here, when you season something, what's your objective?

[18:05] Is to do what? It's to get the right balance. So the flavor is palatable. Enjoyable.

[18:18] It's a means in which we can grab a hold of that. And so we need to really realize the importance of what I, that saying that I had has been said that we need to be sure to taste our words before you spit them out.

[18:31] You know what? If you taste them and swirl them around a little bit before you spit them out, you'll find out how they're seasoned. Have you ever noticed a cook? What do they do before they serve it? The first thing they do is like, they taste it.

[18:46] Why are they tasting it? To make sure what they're putting out is seasoned correctly. So the importance of seizing, to be slow to speak, to choose our words wisely.

[18:57] What we say, especially in response to what others have spoken or not even had a chance to speak, we speak quickly. And it's usually the problem with quick speech.

[19:09] It's often reactionary. We react. And reactionary speech often escalates the tension. Where wise and kind words help to diffuse tension and conflict.

[19:27] Look over to Proverbs chapter 15. Proverbs chapter 15. Notice what the word of God tells us here in application to this proper seasoning. It tells us this in verse 1.

[19:38] It's very clear. It says, That's pretty key, isn't it?

[19:52] Because the opposite can also be true. People can use knowledge wrongly. They can twist and they can manipulate. What we speak is important. But notice this. But the mouth of the fools, I like this, poureth out foolishness.

[20:09] You know what? There's a lot of people when you listen to them, it's like you just have to walk away because you say there's a fool. How do you know? Because of the multitudes of words they spoke that they said nothing.

[20:23] Or it was with vitriol and hatred. Words are powerful things and God desires for us to use our words to bring others closer to him. First in the knowledge of salvation and then to grow up and mature in the truth.

[20:40] You know, words are what build us and mature us in truth. Whether it's the word of God or it's the encouragement of others. Look over to Ephesians chapter 4 for a moment.

[20:51] Ephesians 4 you'll find here in verse 13. Here's a familiar passage, but I want you to understand the application here. Notice what it tells us here.

[21:02] It says, Till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man. That means complete or full.

[21:13] Under the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. That we henceforth be no more children. Tossed to and fro, carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slight of men and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.

[21:32] You know what? There's a lot of people who speak words that deceive. But notice what it says. But speaking. How is this done? How do people mature by what's spoken or taught to them?

[21:56] That conference of communication, of information, of understanding of facts and opinions and the things of this world that we need to grab a hold of.

[22:08] Knowledge. And essentially the knowledge of salvation. You know, that's the most important thing you can know. Have you ever stopped to consider that you can leave this world and know only one thing and be good.

[22:22] When you know that Jesus Christ came and died for your sin and you've called upon him to save you. If you knew nothing else in this life, it wouldn't matter.

[22:36] Because when you get to heaven, you're going to have a test of science. You know, of how is it, you know, what's your opinion of how the earth made us? Like that'd be a silly questionnaire anyways in heaven.

[22:47] God's saying I already told you. At least it'd be an open book test. But the only thing that's going to matter to get there is your understanding and knowledge of who Christ is. And what he's done.

[22:58] The most important knowledge you can confer to somebody is who Jesus is. And when we understand that, that there's, that he wants, that's the most critical. But we also understand there's other things involved that support that.

[23:12] And to build us up and not to tear down. But when we are quick to answer, it's often not the right answer. Because neither does it communicate truth.

[23:25] We need to measure our words. We need to taste them. The seasoning on them to say is it beneficial to both parties. You know, a soft word that's fitly spoken is so much more beneficial.

[23:38] Now, the next verse I got here, most of the kids in here probably could quote to you. If they came up through wise guys. They'll go to Proverbs 25, 11. You know, here's some of the good things that when the kids do the kids program on Wednesday.

[23:53] I'm going to put a plug in here. They learn character. And one of the character things they learn is this. A word fitly spoken is what? Like apples of gold in pictures of silver.

[24:06] A word fitly spoken. That's part of what the kids get taught on Wednesday night. They get taught things of application, of understanding the importance of words.

[24:18] Character. It supplements your communication to your children already. That's the purpose behind this. Not teaching them new information, but supporting information. Builds them up.

[24:30] I want you to see the picture here this morning. And even if we have an example in the scripture, I believe, of this same principle being put into play.

[24:43] You know, 1 Samuel chapter 25 tells about a man named Nabal who was married to a woman named Abigail. And the story there in 1 Samuel chapter 25 is the epitome of what we're talking about here of measured speech.

[25:01] Her husband is said to be a fool. Why is he a fool? Because he spoke a response before understanding the circumstances. Before understanding what was taking place.

[25:13] He spoke it to David's men. I want you to understand, he spoke without considering the facts. And understanding the situation. And was about to bring something detrimental upon his family.

[25:28] You can go back this afternoon and read 1 Samuel chapter 25. But let's just give a little highlight here. Because notice here in 1 Samuel 25, 32. And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me.

[25:44] And blessed be, look at this, be thy advice. You know what happened? David was coming to wipe the family out.

[26:10] Now we don't have time to get into all the details of why and the what's of all that this morning. That's a whole other message to itself. But I want you to see the principle here.

[26:22] What took place? A wise person spoke words seasoned with salt. Spoke the truth in love. And saved her family.

[26:34] Even though her husband was a fool. Her thoughtful, wise words brought peace. You know, I want you to consider when you speak to your spouse. When you speak to your children. When you speak to your neighbor.

[26:45] When you speak to someone that disagrees with you. Are your words wise words? Words of understanding? Words of truth? Words that have been seasoned properly?

[26:56] Or are they critical words? Destructive words? Reactionary words? Remember, words are powerful things. And we need to be intentional in what we say.

[27:10] Slow to speak. Why do we need to slow it down? Because in other words, you say something you can't take back. You know, words are something that once they come out, you can apologize for them.

[27:25] You can try to work through them, but you can't take them back. They're out there. They're out there in the lives of who you spoke them to. Our speech is important. Notice the next part of the passage here.

[27:37] He says, Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. Be slow to anger. You know, we ought to respond with grace.

[27:49] You know, I want you to understand everything should not stir hostility and anger within you. You know, we're in a culture today where people love to stir people to hostility. As a believer, we need to be measured.

[28:00] I want you to understand, for everything there is a season. The scripture is clear about there are seasons that certain actions need to be taken.

[28:11] Solomon tells us there's a time for war and there's a time for peace. You can read Ecclesiastes 3 spills out all sorts of seasons that are contrasting one another. But somebody that's measured understands what season it is and what's needful and appropriate in the light of God's word.

[28:30] To understand the essentials of it. Because everything shouldn't just stir it up. It's easy to stir things up and to bring anger and wrath into something.

[28:43] Oftentimes people have been hurt. And you know what happens when people get hurt? They lash out with their tongue before they think. They become reactionary. And the biggest thing they need to do.

[28:54] If you've been hurt, you're essentially very important, critical to slow down. Not say what you shouldn't say. Because it's a reaction to how you feel at the moment.

[29:08] Anger can often be brought about because of unforgiveness. You know, people react with anger. They're quick to anger because of unforgiveness. You don't know what they did to me.

[29:18] You can go back and listen to last week. We talked about forgiveness. Forgiveness plays into our communication. Because wrath here, the word wrath, is that excitement of mind that manifests in uncontrolled anger.

[29:33] In other words, it's a stirring of your mind that over-supersedes everything else. Wrath happens very quickly. That's the problem with it is the fact that it overpowers us.

[29:44] It overpowers our responses. It overpowers our thinking because we become reactionary and not swift to hear. We want to club somebody else with our words.

[29:55] Notice Proverbs 15, 18. The word of God says this, A wrathful man stirreth up strife, but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife. Now, I want you to understand that you can do everything right with your words and some people are still going to be angry.

[30:12] Sometimes there's still going to be strife. There's going to be friction. Because remember, communication also involves opinion. If you've lived very long, you'll learn that not everybody agrees with you. Let me give you a little clue.

[30:26] If we played clips of you 10 years ago, you might find out you don't agree with yourself today. Matter of fact, some of us might go so far, I don't agree with myself yesterday.

[30:38] And sometimes we ought not to agree with ourself yesterday because maybe you were swift to speak. Instead of being swift to hear. To grab a hold of what's happening.

[30:52] Anger, wrath that is not controlled leads to destructive outcomes that tear apart relationships. The need to control our emotion and deal with it at the root.

[31:03] But uncontrolled anger will lead to unintended consequences. You know, Numbers 20 gives us a great example of this. Moses was a man of God.

[31:16] A man that God chose to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. But you know what? Moses got caught up in his anger.

[31:29] And let his anger dictate his reaction. And there was a consequence because of it. We find in Numbers chapter 20. Numbers 20, you have Moses.

[31:41] And Moses and Aaron, it says, gathered the congregation together before the rock. Now let me give you a little background there. They're in Kadesh and they're without water. And the people are mourning.

[31:52] They're not mourning. They're murmuring. It'd be better if they were in mourning. They were murmuring and complaining. And you know what?

[32:03] Sometimes, you know, if you've been around or had to lead anything, sometimes you can empathize with Moses here. Because what happened is, is Moses let his frustration come out with anger.

[32:15] Sometimes things can get frustrating. You can get frustrated with the situation. Here the people are. They're complaining and they're nagging at Moses and Moses, Moses, Moses.

[32:26] And they didn't have any water. You've sent us out here to die. And God says, gather them at the rock. And he said unto them, hear now ye rebels.

[32:38] That's your first clue. Notice this phrase of them. Must we fetch you water out of this rock? Can you see Moses' attitude stirring up towards the people? The frustration and the anger he has.

[32:51] Why are we here again? If you go back a little bit, you'll find that God had already provided them water out of a rock. And Moses was to go up and strike the rock once. Now there's a lot of pictures within that.

[33:02] But Moses' command here was not to strike the rock this time, but to speak to the rock. But Moses in his anger, in his frustration, in his moment of he's just tired.

[33:15] Okay, you rebellious people. Notice, look down at verse 12. And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, because you believe me not to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel.

[33:26] Therefore you shall not bring this congregation to the land which I have given thee. Let me fill in the blanks. In between, you know what Moses did? He took the rod and struck the rock twice. Why?

[33:38] In anger. Notice what God's response is. You did not represent me as I instructed you. His frustration and anger hindered his testimony and impacted others.

[33:54] It cost him the consequences. Moses wasn't able to go into the land. God was providing what the people needed, water. But even though they were complaining, you know what?

[34:05] God still gave grace. But Moses was frustrated and allowed his emotions and frustration to gain control. He spoke before he thought.

[34:16] He did not represent the Lord properly. And it changed the way the people saw the Lord. Notice what it tells us back in James. Look here what it says in verse 20. It says, For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

[34:30] Now I want you to understand that the problem here isn't anger itself. The Bible's very clear. Because there's some things that ought to make us angry. That ought to stir you to be angry.

[34:46] There's some things that people do to other people that ought to make us angry. When you understand the reality of when somebody kills a child in the womb, that ought to make you angry.

[34:57] But notice what the Bible tells us. Ephesians 4 tells us this in verse 26. It says, Be angry in what? Sin not.

[35:09] Notice how James ties this together. Because anger, when it's lashing out, becomes wrath. It's not just something that impacts you and something that you say this needs to be different.

[35:21] But it becomes something I'm going to take my own action about. I'm going to respond to it the way I want to respond. Instead of the way God tells us to respond.

[35:32] Or the way that we ought to respond thoughtfully. Because notice the last part of this verse is, Neither give place to the devil. You know what? The devil loves to work the wrath of people. He uses wrathful people to stir up people.

[35:45] If you have any questions, just look at the news cycle for the last four or five days. And see how it's playing the roller coaster of anger. Playing out in wrath. Notice Proverbs 29, 22.

[35:59] It says, The angry man stirreth up strife, and a furious man aboundeth in transgressions. The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Just because it stirs you to emotion doesn't mean you need to lash out about it improperly.

[36:14] That's measuring our speech. Measuring what we do. Listening. Learning to manage our emotion and respond with grace instead of anger.

[36:27] You know what? How many relationships that would help? You know how many relationships could be restored if people were communicating with grace instead of with anger? How many problems could have been resolved?

[36:38] Because sometimes people can just make you angry like Moses. He got angry because he was frustrated. If you hang out with somebody very long, pretty soon they're going to frustrate you. There's going to be something happen or something along the way.

[36:50] They're going to frustrate you. That's just the reality. The question is, what are you going to do when it happens? How are you going to respond? What are you going to do in those moments?

[37:02] You know, we've been applying things the last few weeks into relationships with a couple. Because even that, when marriage, when you get frustrated with one another, you need to communicate the more and have that seasoned conversation.

[37:18] Because when you reflect and communicate well, you know what you do? You reflect God's wisdom, his love, and his grace, not only to the one you're speaking to, but to a lost world around us.

[37:30] Because people pay attention. People pay attention. How does somebody who say they believe in Jesus, how do they respond? What are they doing? Are they responding with seasoned words?

[37:42] Are they just quick to throw out wrath and anger? Or are their words measured? Are they speaking truth? Now, I want you to understand, I'm not talking about not speaking what's right. But you can speak what's right without just being totally offensive to somebody.

[37:57] That's a measured word. And it's something we all need to work on. How do we speak appropriately in the situation? Because God-honoring communication is a choice.

[38:09] And it requires disciplining ourselves and submitting ourselves to the Lord. Part of the problem is when we get angry, our submission goes to not the Lord. It goes to what we want.

[38:21] You know, oftentimes we talk about submission. You know, we submit to things all the time. You know what happens when anger comes out? You're submitting to your anger. You're submitting to your emotion. It's just submitting to God. It's the priority that we place.

[38:35] Listening is first the priority. To listen first to His instruction, God's instruction. You know, this morning, if you know the Lord is your Savior, He's called you to honor Him.

[38:49] In your relationships, in your interactions, especially in your marriages, we are to listen carefully, to speak thoughtfully, and to control, and put our anger in the proper order.

[39:04] It says to be angry and what? Sin not. Are you willing to commit to improving communication with others through the principles of God's Word?

[39:16] Maybe you're here this morning and you need to respond to that first dynamic of God's call, a call to recognize His assessment of you, a sinner, that has separated yourself from the Lord because of that sin.

[39:30] You know, the Bible says the wages of sin is death, that eternal separation from the one who gave His life as payment for your sin. And you know what? God, even though we violate everything about Him, God speaks truth and love to you.

[39:46] How are you going to respond to that this morning? As heads are bowed and eyes are closed this morning, as we take just a few moments, I want you to just consider your words today, your interactions, your relationships.

[40:00] First and foremost, your relationship with God. Can you say beyond a shadow of a doubt, I know because I trust what God has said, that I'm safe, I'm secure, I'm saved, because I've called upon the one who provided it for me.

[40:16] But maybe you're here today and you just need to commit to the Lord to say, I'm going to communicate in the right way. What about you today?

[40:27] Heavenly Fathers, we just come before you this morning, Lord. We just thank you and praise you. Lord, we all need help in the area of communication. It's so easy to let our emotion overpower what we say and how we say it.

[40:46] But Lord, let's recognize the power of truth, the power of words, Lord, that faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God, your communication to us. Lord, help us to respond in truth today.

[41:00]  Lord, we just lift this opportunity to you and we just give you all the praise in Jesus' name. Amen. As piano plays, what about you today? Amen. Amen.