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Home Group – A Kosher Mouth

by | Mon, Aug 25 2014

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A Kosher Mouth

Proverbs 18:20-21, ‘With the fruit of a man’s mouth his stomach will be satisfied; He will be satisfied with the product of his lips. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.’ 

Macarthur Study Bible notes explain these verses like this, – “The consequences of one’s words should produce satisfaction and fulfillment and the greatest good and the greatest harm are in the power of the tongue.”

Ugly words seem to be just the norm these days, look at how people speak in general conversation…foul language is accepted as the norm; criticism and even the foulest descriptions and accusations are leveled at those in the highest political offices of our nation as well as our security and law enforcement agencies. Our entertainment industry is jam-packed with obscenities and gossip and tale-bearing is celebrated.

James 3:5-8, ‘So also the tongue is a small part of the body and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell. For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.’

Giuliamar / Pixabay

Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to leave a room knowing that no one will say anything unkind about you? Or to not need to worry that a co-worker’s coolness is because she got wind of your comments about her over lunch last week?

We can preserve a friend’s marriage with our wise counsel. Or we can shred the self-worth of a child with criticism, or incinerate a friendship with gossip. We all fail daily at being consistently Christ-like in what comes out of our lips.

Is there any way to improve what comes out of our mouths?

La’shon Hara – An Evil Tongue

We all can see the wrongness of slander—telling lies about others. But believe it or not, we can also do great damage to others without lying. In Jewish thought, lashon hara (la-SHON ha-RAH – having an “evil tongue”) doesn’t just include telling lies about others. In fact, this phrase is more commonly used to describe the practice of telling negative truths about others that are unnecessary and damaging.

La’shon hara is recounting to your co-workers about how the boss messed up his presentation. It’s pointing out to your wife how poorly the worship leader sings. It’s complaining to your sister that your husband forgot your birthday yet again. Any sentence that starts with “She’s a great person, but it’s annoying when she…” is always going to end in la’shon hara – an evil tongue.

This habit tears down friendships, demeans others, and undermines trust. There are, of course, a few times when a person needs to relay damaging information, but outside of that, this kind of negativity is frowned upon in Jewish law.

We often justify our words with, “Well…I didn’t say anything untrue!” But the Golden Rule states that you shouldn’t do to others what you wouldn’t want done to you. If you’d be hurt and embarrassed by having your own flaws revealed, you shouldn’t share those of others.

Sharing negative information is generally only permitted in situations where people may be adversely affected if they make a decision without it. For instance, if a friend is considering going into business with someone you know is dishonest, you should tell the friend. But even then, you should share only facts you know and not unfounded hearsay.

Jewish Wisdom About Our Tongues

Jewish teachers for thousands of years focused on the promise in Psalm 34:12-13 that says, ‘Which of you takes pleasure in living? Who wants a long life to see good things? If you do, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceiving talk.’

Why do we gossip about others? One major reason for la’shon hara is our desire to elevate ourselves by tearing others down. Paul has a solution to this problem: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:3-4) If we genuinely care as much about others as ourselves, we will try to protect their reputations as much as we do our own.

A story is told of a habitual gossip who finally decided to repent of his sin. He knocked on the door of the village rabbi and asked, “Is there something I can do to make amends?”

The rabbi stroked his beard and replied, “Go home and come back with a pillow.”

Relieved, the man soon completed the odd errand. Would such a simple gift be all that was needed to atone for this sin?

When he returned, the rabbi continued. “Now, slice it open.”

It was a windy day, and the breeze picked up the feathers, wafting them over the housetops and into the fields.

“Now, go gather all of the feathers again and put them back in the pillow.”

“But that’s impossible!” exclaimed the man.

“In the same way, it’s impossible to repair all the damage that your words have done.”

Yeshua said in Luke 6:45, ‘The good person produces good things from the store of good in his heart, while the evil person produces evil things from the store of evil in his heart. For his mouth speaks what overflows from his heart.’

In other words, if you have an evil tongue, you have an evil heart.

It’s our responsibility to guard our toung

As believer’s in Yeshua it’s our responsibility to guard our mouths – to have a kosher mouth so that what comes out of it builds up, encourages and graces both others and ourselves, to be otherwise disgraces and maligns our Messiah.

Shalom

(Excerpt from “How to Have a Kosher Mouth” (adapted) in Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus