How Do We Speak to One Another?

“. . . but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” .

This is a question I ought to ask myself. What is my speech like in daily life? Here we understand that it is vital to be filled with the Spirit, who can give us light and power so that our words are good even in demanding situations. What matters first and foremost is keeping our heart pure, “for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” .

The natural man is caught up in the challenges of life, and his words are characterized by both his soul and the spirit he is in. Then his words are by no means edifying. After we have been converted and have received the Holy Spirit, the intention is that this will also characterize our words, but it requires us to work out our salvation with seriousness. Even though we have been wholeheartedly converted, our nature will still put words in our mouth, depending on the situation. These are temptations that we must regard as suggestions coming from our nature, which by no means need to be followed. This is where we must stop when the thoughts come, and ask ourselves: Where do these thoughts come from? Are these necessary, beneficial, and good thoughts that I should put into words? “The heart of the righteous studies how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours forth evil.” .

“Many speak thoughtless words like the piercings of a sword, but the tongue of the wise promotes health.” . [Norw.] Much suffering arises because of thoughtless words—suffering both for ourselves and for those who hear them. Our fellow men can become both bitter and full of hatred. Through obedience and carefulness, the Spirit will guide us so that our speech can be edifying and a blessing.

“You can be still; you can speak out,” we sing in our songbook, WotL no. 284. This is important and is part of a spiritual life. There is much that can be said to edify, but there is also much that ought not to be said. “A prudent man conceals knowledge, but the heart of fools proclaims foolishness.” . “He who covers a transgression seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates friends.” . Disciples have surely experienced how good it is when the Spirit guides them to be silent. Not least when there is a temptation to be a busybody in other people’s matters, which is very serious. .

When we think about the deeds of the body, deeds which we cannot avoid even though we serve the law of God with our mind, it is usually the words and the way we say them that the Spirit wants to point out, and which we sense should have been done better. Here disciples will come to a conversion within salvation, which is absolutely necessary for further progress in God. We feel a sorrow that longs for more of the mind that is in God. The fact that there is no condemnation for such things does not exempt us from feeling “guilty.” I was not watchful enough, and I feel strongly that things must become better with me. Praise be to God that we can judge ourselves and come to an ever richer and more blessed life, where our words and actions become ever more blessed.

When something wrong suddenly and unexpectedly happens, then with God’s help we can come to the point where the first thought that comes up is, for example: “Forgive them, for they do not know what they do,” or “He surely did not mean it that way,” or “Yes, that was wrong, but he probably didn’t know any better—it was probably a deed of the body.” How good it is to live like this. It is by the use of the word of righteousness that our senses are exercised through the effect of the word within us, piercing and doing such an amazing work in us that we can become good and merciful through and through. . Much must die in us before the first thought that comes to us is from God, but through love of the truth and the fear of God it is fully possible to receive this grace and help from God and His word.

“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” . It is this living water, this life in the Spirit and in the word, that our fellow men need: encouraging, comforting and life-giving words from this eternal fountain, which Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, can give us when we seek it with our whole heart. It is incredible how good it becomes, both for ourselves and for those we have to do with, when we walk in purity of heart. A pure thought life also leads to our words and deeds becoming anointed and pure.

Ragnar Larsen