Courageous

by Eileen Thugi | Nov 7, 2020 | Blog

Take the bull by the horns.

²⁴ Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the Lord (Psalm 31).

There are situations we don’t need to be bold to face, because we have the skills and experience to help us. The less familiar we are with our circumstances, the more likely we will become apprehensive. Making new adjustments or changes like moving to another location, starting a new job, or starting a family can give us some jitters about our ability to get it right. We don’t have all the answers but we have to go forward into the unknown—situations we have not encountered before. Being brave is acting while still afraid. Without the proper instructions we have no sense of direction. We also need help from those who have more experience than we do. We are empowered by the ability to diligently use all the resources that are at hand.

7 “Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for The Lord your God is with you wherever you go (Joshua 1).”

How can we prosper in what we have not encountered before? We need a guide, with clear instructions. Joshua was invested to lead the people into the promised land, after the death of Moses. He had big shoes to fill and needed to muster all the courage to win the confidence of the people. God was not concerned about the people’s fear or their uncertainty in Joshua’s abilities. He needed Joshua to commit to keeping His Law just as Moses had commanded him. In order for Joshua to be strong and courageous, he had to first submit to all that God required of him. His doubts about his experience were irrelevant to God. 

Be courageous to do what God asks of you: Be confident in your ability to follow instructions. Don’t consider your competency but your eagerness to obey. Faithfully execute all that God commands you. Shift your focus from abilities to doing only what God requires. Until you devote yourself to obey God, you will flounder in your own abilities. Bone up on what God requires of you and let it be your best guide. Being one-track minded will give you success. You don’t have to fret the unknown, or what others may think about you; do one thing well—obedience. Be strong and courageous in keeping God’s Ways; and The Lord your God will be with you every step of the way. If you have not been on this path before, you must pluck up the courage trusting the One Who knows the terrain. 

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand (Ephesians 6).

Whether you know it or not you are always in a spiritual warfare for the preservation of your soul. If there’s good, then there must be evil; if there’s a force for good then there’s one for evil. These are spiritual forces antagonistic to each other, and you and I are the vehicles, if you will, for their works. There are spiritual hosts in heavenly places that operate through humans to accomplish their purposes. Never assume your suffering and trials are spiritually inconsequential. Don’t sit back waiting to see how the cookie crumbles, while you get weighed down by your struggles. Put on the whole armor of God and stand against spiritual adversaries that want to destroy you. Putting on God’s armor is being strengthened by God’s Power. God operates in the spiritual and physical realm and knows all strategies of warfare. It will not serve you well to just physically engage those who oppose you; fully submit yourself to God’s Authority. They need to be defeated in the spiritual realm. It’s not your neighbor, co-worker or family member that is striving with you, it’s wickedness in the highest places operating in the physical realm. Our weapons are of God and are not against people, but spiritual maneuvers of darkness. Pray and seek God’s protection and instructions. The devil is rebellious to God’s Authority but we must submit to God. Be strong in God’s Abilities and Power to overcome every spiritual attack against you. 

43 So the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 And the Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!” 45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the Name of The Lord of hosts, The God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day The Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 47 Then all this assembly shall know that The Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is The Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands (1 Samuel 17).”

Whose name do you want to honor in battle? The source of our confidence will be our strength. David went against Goliath in The Name of The Lord of hosts. He didn’t go to make a name for himself, but to honor The God of Israel. Nothing is as endearing to God than when we want to show Him off. For David, it wasn’t that Goliath was insulting his weapons or his size, but that he was speaking against God. If it is God we are representing then we must advance with gusto, because we are appalled at His dishonor, more than what is said about us. Then the battle becomes God’s and not ours. The Lord will not save with human weapons; He is The God of Heavens’ Armies. Was David looking for accolades from those who were watching? Not at all. He said,  “That all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.”  Isn’t it exciting that God would choose to use you for His Glory? So that everyone may know that God fights for you. Your courage is bolstered by your motives. If God is to be praised and known, you must be willing to go forth in His Name. 

6 But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; 7 and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: “The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. 8 If The Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk and honey.’ 9 Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and The Lord is with us. Do not fear them (Numbers 14).”

When you are sanguine about a future goal you have prayed about, keep the faith. If God desires it for you, He will go ahead of you to ensure you have everything you need. Keep your eyes on the price and not on the obstacles you have to overcome. Unfortunately, for the children of Israel they became despondent because of the mightier men they would have to defeat in order to inherit the land. They discounted God’s promise that the land was for their taking. He had already gone before them, spied it out and had weakened the strongholds of the land. Joshua and Caleb were the only ones who focused on the land’s great potential and God’s Ability to give it to them. Above the din of fear and murmuring, was the hope of receiving what was already promised. Fear goes against God’s Will for us; it supersedes God’s desire for us. Fear is rebellion to God by casting doubt on His intentions. 

5 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you (Joshua 1).

If you pay attention to the naysayers, you will lose out. If God has affirmed His delight in you, then you must steel yourself and seize the opportunity. No one will stand in God’s way to keep you from what He has set aside for you. Fear will defeat your chances of victory. If you stand alone, stand with God. You don’t need the reassurance of others; you only need God’s Favor. Doubt is lack of faith in God. Courage is an unflagging determination to be successful. God promised Joshua He would be with him just as He was with Moses. God asserted that Moses was not special but for God’s Hand upon him. Don’t look at those who have gone before you to disqualify yourself on their merits. Just as God was with Moses, He would be with Joshua, with equal measure of favor and provision. No one would stand against Joshua, no one will stand against us as well; because He will not leave us or forsake us.

Courage is not for the physically strong or intellectually endowed, it is for everyone who is willing to embrace it. We are the children of The Most High God. He has conquered every power in the seen and unseen world. We have to be steeped in His Truth and Instructions, then be bold to follow them. He has already gone before us and promised He will not leave us or forsake us. He doesn’t need our human weapons, He only asks that we obey and He will take care of the rest. If we let fear take hold of us, we will rebel God and He will not be pleased. We have to proceed in His Name and for His Name. Nothing will be able to stand against The God Who keeps us. He warns us not to give in to our fear, because it denigrates Him. Take your courage in both hands and go forth into the unknown, with Almighty God.

38 “But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.” 39 But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved (Hebrews 10).

Rejoice

by Eileen Thugi | Oct 30, 2020 | Blog

Do you have a song?

⁴ Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His Name. ⁵ For The Lord is Good; His Mercy is everlasting, and His Truth endures to all generations (Psalm 100).

Given all the responsibilities we have, the deadlines we have to meet, and the expectations others have of us, it’s difficult to find something to rejoice in while juggling so much. They say it’s good to lighten up in the midst of hardships. Every dark cloud has a silver lining; as with every trouble we face, there’s always a flicker of hope. If we learn to turn our attention from all we are saddled with, and focus on the positive outcomes, we can still have joy in the midst of challenges. Circumstances are like shifting sands that can throw us into a roller-coaster of emotions. We need to find hope in what is steadfast and certain. 

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus (Philipians 4).

People we rely on can sometimes come up short of our expectations. Always find joy in trusting The Lord, because in Him there’s hope. He is Faithful and His Love never fails. Rejoice in God always—in times of uncertainty, adversity and success. God is in control of every issue pertaining to our lives, just as He is controlling all of nature. If we have high expectations of God, we have reason to rejoice. We don’t have to see the outcome before we believe in God’s Character. Rejoicing is discovering hope in difficult circumstances. Rejoicing in God is finding God in the midst of our struggles and clinging to His Greatness. 

Don’t be anxious but give God what you can’t handle, and exchange it for peace. The Lord is at hand—He is here to turn things around for our good. It may seem that a situation has made a turn for the worst. Don’t equate God with the intensity of your pain or hardships. Tune out the fear and doubt with gladness and expectation of what God will do. Let Christ guard your heart and mind, by accepting His Peace. 

15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s Will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with The Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to The Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God The Father for everything, in The Name of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5).

Every moment  is an opportunity to live wisely. As children of God we must be cognizant of God’s Will. We live in evil days when people are overcome with their lusts for pleasure and drunkenness. God’s Will for His children is that they abstain from activities that lead to sin. We must be diligent and wise, allowing The Holy Spirit to take control of our desires. 

Rejoicing in The Lord from the heart and giving thanks to God our Father for everything, will make the heart merry. Fellowship with The Holy Spirit is delighting in His Presence. When we worship with others, singing to The Lord, we partake in a divine celebration of Almighty God. We can make God the source of joyous moments, not the fulfilling of our fleshly desires. We are unlikely to fall into sin when our rejoicing is motivated by our desire to honor Him. 

20 So they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in The Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.” 21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to The Lord, and who should praise the beauty of Holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: “Praise The Lord, For His Mercy endures forever.” 22 Now when they began to sing and to praise, The Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated (2 Chronicles 20). 

Rejoice in the prospect of victory, by God’s Power. Unless we believe in all that God can do, we will not be able to praise Him before we see results. His Mercy endures forever to those who believe. We must be grounded on an imperturbable faith. God never fails and He never forsakes those who call upon Him in faith. Praise is an admittance to God’s favor. 

King Jehoshaphat and the inhabitants of Jerusalem went out before the army that was set against them, armed with God’s praise. They didn’t have to shoot an arrow, because when they began to sing God began to fight for them. Consider praising God for Who He is as you go out to face battle. Rejoicing in Him will take your mind off your situation and your abilities. You will be established in Who He is and not how you feel. Give God praise, listen to those He sends to reassure you, and you shall prosper according to His Plan. 

11  But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them. Let those also who love Your Name be joyful in You. 12  For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous, with favor You will surround him with a shield (Psalm 51).

High expectations give a semblance of hope. When we trust in God we suppress fear. Those who put their trust in God will find reason to rejoice in Him. They are eager to see what He will do. Rejoicing is like a pep talk before a challenge. There’s little to be bubbly about in our troubles, because of uncertainty. But we are in the most capable hands when we surrender to God’s Will. We encourage ourselves about God’s Greatness by going forward in His Name. He will defend  those who trust in Him. His Name is Greater than any other force coming against us: In The Name of Jesus, The Living God, we are preserved from all adversity. He will surround those who have joy in Him with favor, as a shield. We should not forfeit experiencing His Greatness by keeping silent. Sure, the situations we face may be dire, but we have a safe haven—our hope and trust is His Name. 

12 Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; 13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His Glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. 14 If you are reproached for the Name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of Glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified (1 Peter 4). 

As beloved children of God we partake the likeness of The Son of God, who came in human form. Since He suffered we will also suffer. So we are to count it as a joyous privilege to suffer as He did—rejected, betrayed, criticized, persecuted, accused and despised. Instead of murmuring or blaming God, we should be glad that we have become one with The Son in our struggles. When others reject and ostracize us, we should appreciate that we are different. We have the seal of The Spirit of Glory and of God resting on us. He is glorified when we suffer for His Name. Be exceedingly glad that you have The Life of Christ exemplified by suffering. Willingly accept suffering as a partaker in Christ’s suffering. 

Rejoicing is easy when everything is hunky-dory. Rejoicing in the midst of struggles and pain is no small feat. It requires we put aside fear and hopelessness by being excited about a promising outcome. As our situations change for the worst, we still have to hold on to a solid hope that is independent of our circumstances. By putting our trust in God we accept our ineptitude and weakness to handle what we are facing. Whether it is adversity or our adversaries, we can rejoice in God’s exceeding Greatness to overcome every challenge we face. We rejoice in a triumphant victory that exalts Him above everything else. Rejoicing in the midst of our suffering shows we have inner strength that can’t be trounced. We don’t need short-lived pleasures to give us hope; they wear off in a snap. But let all who trust in The Lord be invigorated in His Might. 

We should not dwell on our past failures or past struggles. God is always doing something new that we don’t have to fathom, but look forward to. He creates opportunities where there seems to be nothing of value. In the most unseemly and unlikely place He prospers His chosen. His Name is at stake; so He preserves His people for His Glory. He will orchestrate His Goodness for those who He has chosen to use, to reveal Who He is. He has created them for His praise, because they rejoice in Him. They will not fail to declare His highest praise no matter what comes their way. Are you ordained to rejoice in The Lord?

18  “Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. 19  Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth: Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. 20  The beast of the field will honor Me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I give water in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My people, My chosen. 21  These people I have formed for Myself. They shall declare My praise (Isaiah 43).“

Call

by Eileen Thugi | Oct 21, 2020 | Blog

Who do you call when in trouble?

With the inception of the phone, we have had access to others near or far, in a matter of minutes. Being able to call someone in a pinch or just to check in on them, has helped strengthen relationships. It’s nice to hear a voice on the other side and get a sense of how they are doing. In this fast-paced society, we can hardly find the time to call others. Tragedy, holidays, exciting news and often misfortune will force us to drop everything, and call those we have not spoken to in a long time. Unless we have a very close relationship with someone, we often don’t see the necessity to call. We are more likely to reach out when we need something or when in a pickle that they can help solve. We count on those who are dependable. God cares about all our circumstances and is accessible anytime and anywhere. There are times when the person we are trying to reach is not accessible. 

16  As for me, I will call upon God, and The Lord shall save me. 17  Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice. 18  He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me, for there were many against me (Psalm 55).

You have to know why you would call someone in the first place; will they answer? Or will they help? Who do you call when you feel helpless and overwhelmed? Who shall save you from those who rise against you? Call upon God; not once, but morning, noon and evening. Call upon The Savior, Deliverer and Protector! There are battles that you may be embroiled in that are not yours to fight. God will not be overcome by those who oppose you. Call on The God Who hears your voice and find solace in Him alone. Only call others after you have called Him first. He will marshal the help you need and send those He has appointed for your deliverance. He will position the best person to come to your aid, at the precise time, and with what you need. Let God be the first to tackle your problem, and watch Him move things on your behalf. 

9 Then Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots, and he came to Mareshah. 10 So Asa went out against him, and they set the troops in battle array in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. 11 And Asa cried out to The Lord his God, and said, “Lord, it is nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power; help us, O Lord our God, for we rest on You, and in Your Name we go against this multitude. O Lord, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You!” 12 So the Lord struck the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah, and the Ethiopians fled (2 Chronicles 14). 

There’s a strategy that seems to curry favor with God: First, cry out to God and let Him know you are helpless without Him. Secondly, juxtapose God to the situation you are facing, and declare His Might and Power to be beyond comparison. Thirdly, profess your dependence on Him alone. Lastly, with great expectation, stake a claim to represent God in the battle, by advancing in His Name. Call on God to acknowledge Who He is. The Lord will prevail with few or many; He doesn’t need our help. King Asa was delivered from the Ethiopian army, because He looked to God for victory, and not to his own army.  

7 And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him: “Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on The Lord your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand. 8 Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on The Lord, He delivered them into your hand. 9 For the eyes of The Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars (2 Chronicles 16).”

Do you always find yourself in a cycle of conflicts or mishaps? There might be a lesson for you to learn from the above passage. “For the eyes of The Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.” God is hovering over the earth to show Himself off through those who lean on Him. He wants to show His Strength to those who rely on Him first, before they seek the help of others. We will not have rest until we learn to depend on God. 

Asa was considered to have acted foolishly by asking the Syrians help, before seeking God. He quickly forgot how God had delivered him from the peerless Ethiopian army. Being loyal to God is calling Him first. We are warned about putting our hope in others, even though they may seem capable. We must not forget the times The Lord came through for us. We will not have peace when we thrust Him aside, by putting our confidence in others. 

1 I will love You, O Lord, my strength. 2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 3 I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies (Psalm 18).

It’s those we call often that we value the most. We can’t call on The God we don’t love. We can’t ask of The God we don’t believe loves us. Those who are dependable are precious and unique. They have qualities that we don’t find in others. We are at a loss of words to define them. Why would you call on God first?  His ineffable qualities are unmatched to others. He is our Rock; our stable ground in times of uncertainty. He is our Deliverer; He shows Himself strong on our behalf, to overcome the battles we face. He is our God; The Most Powerful Loving Creator of all things, and our Helper at all times. We can confidently put our trust in Him. We should never forget to thank those we call; they should know how much we value them. God is worthy of our highest praise, because He is our fortress in times of trouble. Call on Him morning, noon and night, before you call others. Watch Him orchestrate the events that will bring about deliverance and victory.

11  I, even I, am the Lord, and besides Me there is no savior. 12  I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, and there was no foreign god among you; Therefore you are My witnesses,” Says the Lord, “that I am God. 13  Indeed before the day was, I am He. And there is no one who can deliver out of My hand; I work, and who will reverse it? (Isaiah 43)”

Restrain

by Eileen Thugi | Oct 15, 2020 | Blog

Hold your peace.

There will always be people who get under our skin. Arguments will ensue when we are at odds with others. When emotions get overheated, things can quickly spiral out of hand. We have to try and get a grip of ourselves before we say or do something regrettable. Our reaction determines the outcome we desire. It’s difficult to keep a rein on our emotions, especially when we have been offended. 

23  Whoever guards his mouth and tongue, keeps his soul from troubles (Proverbs 21).

The more we speak of an offense, the angrier we get. We fan the flames of our own emotions by perpetually arousing them. The less we speak every thought, the less we will foam in the mouth. We are told to guard our mouth and tongue; keep our words caged in. We can keep our souls from bitterness and rage by putting a stop to any further discussions. 

Don’t discuss your resentment for another, with everyone else. The more we tell, the more we remind ourselves how we feel.  We don’t need to keep ourselves in a cycle of flashbacks; it will wear us out. Others don’t need to be roped into our emotions. Likewise, we should reserve our opinion about a one-sided account. We have to be careful to get all the facts before making a poor judgement. 

19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. 20 Because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires (James 1). 

It’s no small feat to allow someone speak first; especially when we are in a heated disagreement. We should be quick to listen by letting them finish speaking—that can be an excruciating experience. We have to be slow to speak by weighing our words carefully; making sure we don’t give a barbed response. Lastly, as we are listening, we should not be doing a slow boil; waiting to unleash potent venom. No one said being a Christian was a walk in the park. As long as we long for righteousness that God desires, we have to grin and bear it. Anger often harms others, without solving issues.

3  Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips. 4  Do not incline my heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with men who work iniquity; and do not let me eat of their delicacies (Psalm 141).

When tempted to respond to others in kind, we will be hard-pressed to do the right thing. On our own, it’s almost impossible to restrain ourselves from acting out of emotion. So we have to call on God to keep us back, from acting out with malice and anger. If we want to be on God’s side, then we have to resist participating in works of darkness. As tempting as it may seem, we should avoid the delicacies that feed our emotions. The Lord will give us an alternative that will overcome the evil we desire to act on. We should try to steer away from the incitement of those who want to see a dark side. 

6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. 7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s Likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be (James 3). 

The tongue is a reservoir for words that can bless, hurt or incite others. The body gestures what the mouth professes. The tongue has great power to build or destroy us and others. The same mouth we use to worship God, should not be used to speak evil against those God has made in His Likeness. Cursing others is cursing their Creator. Our words are a deadly poison for those who receive them, but more so for us who speak them. We are defined by what we speak brazenly. Our words will not go unpunished for the sin they express from within. 

34 “ Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. 36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it on the day of judgment. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned (Matthew 12).”

A good person should express the treasures of the good they have nurtured within. An evil person will manifest the darkness within them. We will give an account of who we are, by the words we have spoken, on the day of judgement. Our words are part of our spiritual well-being. They reveal our virtues and will determine our eternal fate before God. So we should not be careless with the words we use; they have far-reaching consequences if used recklessly. 

24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. 25 And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. 26 Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. 27 But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified (1 Corinthians 9).

If we have goals we value, we must be disciplined to attain them. The outcome we desire should be worth the effort we put in. Our intentions should be clearly defined by our conduct. As believers in Christ we can not just do whatever suits our whim. We have set our sights for an imperishable reward, and must do whatever it takes to attain it. We can bring our body to submit to who we want to be, by our words and actions. We want to live as born-again Christians; filled with The Holy Spirit; to live in the Life of The Spirit and not of this world. So there must be a singular difference between us and others, in how we handle circumstances and relationships. Discipline is the restraint that keeps us on the straight and narrow. So we must be temperate with the desires of our flesh and be scrupulous to gain the reward Christ has for us. 

23 Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. 24 Put away from you a deceitful mouth, and put perverse lips far from you (Proverbs 4). 

The heart is a storage for emotions and attitudes that impact our relationships with others. We express the emotions that we have allowed to take root. We must keep our heart from piling on putrid attributes that harm us and those around us. The mouth reveals the heart’s contents. We should be careful not to put out what is foul and perverse. 

45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks (Luke 6).

As difficult as it is to restrain ourselves from speaking or acting out on our emotions, we have to strive to be better each time. We don’t have to be roped into others emotions nor do we have to become like them. We are the children of The Most High God; we represent His Likeness. We should not leave a bad taste in others’ mouths. We should restrain ourselves from getting carried away by our emotion, and be intentional about the outcome we are looking to achieve. We should opt out of any engagement that will harm others, while it defiles us. We must keep guard of our hearts from the effects of bitterness. If we love God we will do what we can to please Him. When we restrain ourselves from evil, we are freeing ourselves to do good.

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity (Colossians 3).