The Point of Purity Podcast

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leading to lasting victory over sexual addiction through a growing, vibrant, powerful relationship with Christ.

Episode #143 - "What Did You Say?"   

Transcript

Your words are a direct result of what is going on in your thoughts. What you think will come out in what you say. If your thoughts are focused on King Me, your words will be centered on self. The prophet Isaiah said that the man whose mind is busy with evil will speak folly. On the flip side, if your thoughts are focused on God, your words will draw attention to Him.

Welcome to the Point of Purity Podcast! I’m your host Steve Etner – author, National Speaker, Certified Professional Mentor ^TM and Purity Coach for The Pure Man Ministry and this is Episode #143. In this episode we continue our journey through chapter 5 of my book entitled “Are You a Super Man? Becoming God’s Man of Steel.” This week’s episode is entitled “What Did You Say?”

In the late 1970s and early ‘80s, a brokerage firm named E.F. Hutton put together an advertising campaign that had everyone talking (or maybe I should say “listening”). In their television commercials you would see two people out for a jog, or riding a train: possibly at a dinner party or even conversing in the middle of a Broadway show. In every scenario, the crowd or activity happening around them was noisy. As the two individuals talked, their conversation began to focus on the stock market. Inevitably one person would say to the other, “Well, my broker is E.F. Hutton. And E.F. Hutton says …”

Those words were apparently very magical. Once uttered, the rest of the world fell totally silent. Joggers stopped in mid-stride. Commuters on the train put down their newspapers. Dinner guests stopped passing the mashed potatoes. Even the actors on stage halted their scene. Everyone’s attention was drawn to that conversation because everyone wanted to hear the sage advice of the legendary E.F. Hutton. Every commercial always ended with the same powerful tagline: “When E.F. Hutton speaks, people listen.”

Well, when you or I talk, the rest of the world may not come to a screeching halt just to hear what we have to say, but the people around us are listening. So, what are they hearing?

Listen carefully to the words of Paul in Colossians 3:17. “Whatever (we) do, whether in word or deed, (we are to) do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

Notice that Paul uses the word “whatever.” Whatever you may say, whatever words come out of your mouth at any given moment—no matter to whom you’re speaking or the reason for your words, always make sure you’re saying them in a way that glorifies God.

Why? Why should I be so careful about what I say? What’s wrong with spouting off when I get hot under the collar? Why can’t I colorfully express my opinion? To answer, let’s pause for a brief moment here and take a quick stroll through the book of Proverbs. On this little walk, I want you to notice along the way what God says about the words that come out of your mouth.

• “When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.” (Proverbs 10:19)
• “Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” (Proverbs 12:18)
• “He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin.” (Proverbs 13:13)
• “The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly.” (Proverbs 15:2)
• “The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.” (Proverbs 15:14)
• “A wise man’s heart guides his mouth, and his lips promote instruction. Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul.” (Proverbs 16:23-24)
• “A man of knowledge uses words with restraint.” (Proverbs 17:27a)
• “Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue.” (Proverbs 17:28)
• “He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity.” (Proverbs 21:23)
• “A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.” (Proverbs 25:11)

Always consider what you say, my friend—God does. Every time you open your mouth to speak, before a single word comes out, ask God to “set a guard over (your) mouth” and “keep watch over the door of (your) lips” (Psalm 141:3). Cry out to Him, “Father, please ‘let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer’” (Psalm 19:14). Why is that so important, you ask? There is coming a day when every one of us “will have to give account on the Day of Judgment for every careless word (we) have spoken” (Matthew 12:36).

To be honest, our tendency at this point is to think, “EVERY word, EVERY moment of EVERY day? C’mon dude, you’re asking the impossible. I speak thousands of words daily! It just can’t be done.” I agree with you—without God’s help, it is utterly impossible. However, let me remind you that with God nothing is impossible. He will always give you exactly what you need, when you need, it to accomplish everything He has commanded you to do! God doesn’t want you to fail, so you can rest assured that any command He gives you—through His strength and guidance, you can do it!

Our problem lies in the fact that we are used to talking without putting much thought into what we’re saying. Or, when we do think through what we’re going to say, glorifying God with our words isn’t top on our priority list. So, the concept of thinking through everything you say before you speak so that your words bring honor to God feels very foreign. The exciting thing is, God has created us as creatures of habit. Repetitive action eventually forms habitual action. Yes, it’s work now, but it won’t always be.

With God’s help you can “keep (your) tongue from evil and (your) lips from deceitful speech” (1 Pet. 3:10). It truly is possible to consistently restrain your tongue from saying things that will not glorify God.

In Matthew 12:34 Jesus is talking to the Pharisees about the sinful condition of their hearts. In that verse He makes a very interesting statement. He says, “Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” As He’s talking about the “heart,” He isn’t referring to that muscle in your chest that goes thumpity-thump. No, He’s speaking about the core of who you are. It is “command central.” It’s the place where your thoughts, passions, desires, will, and decision-making all occur. In other words, your mind.

Your words are a direct result of what is going on in your thoughts. What you think will come out in what you say. If your thoughts are focused on King Me, your words will be centered on self. The prophet Isaiah said that the man whose mind is busy with evil will speak folly. On the flip side, if your thoughts are focused on God, your words will draw attention to Him.

I challenge you to ask yourself—and answer honestly—this question: Does each and every word I speak and the motivation behind them bring glory to God? When I am speaking to my spouse, to my children, to my employer or employees, to my co-workers, to my family members, to my friends and neighbors, even to those annoying telemarketers, am I carefully considering everything I am saying to be sure each and every word is glorifying God? Since your words reveal what is in your thoughts, the real question is: Do your thoughts truly glorify God?

When the comic book character affectionately known as Superman was created back in 1938, the goal was for the man of steel to be the ideal American—one who always stood for truth, justice and the American way.

Superman is famous not only for his supernatural strength and amazing abilities, he is also known for his humility and genuine concern for helping others. He is modest, courteous and always tries to do the right thing. His compassion for others even goes out to those who don’t deserve it. All in all, he’s a pretty good guy.

What does Superman do? I mean, of course he flies around keeping airplanes from crashing and school buses from falling off of really tall bridges … but how many times a day does that really happen? That’s an important question to consider. What are you doing for God? A typical response to that question may be something like, “Oh, I volunteer to help out in the nursery at church, and I’ve even gone on a couple of short-term missions’ trips. My small group went out last week and raked an elderly neighbor’s leaves, and I am a volunteer Chaplain’s assistant at our local jail.”

Now, don’t misunderstand me here. Those are some great things you can do for the Kingdom. But what about the things you do on a daily basis? What about the mundane, non-spiritual things you do every day? Did you ever stop to consider the fact that even those things should be done in a way that glorifies God?

As we will see later on in our study, Superman is always Superman. Even as Clark Kent, he never stops being Superman. You, too, are always Teknon Theos. Even in your normal, everyday, run-of-the-mill life you never stop being a child of God. So, what do you do?

Simple things like taking out the trash, filling the car with gas, mowing your yard or snow blowing the driveway are all things that should glorify God. Oh, now here’s where I start meddling, because even crossing your arms to make a point, rolling your eyes, sighing loudly, or offering a friendly pat on the back for encouragement; the raising of an eyebrow, a shrug of your shoulders, the glaring of your eyes, the shaking of your head, or a simple smile of encouragement is considered by God to be a deed that should be done in a way that glorifies Him. Seriously! Hey, dude—don’t shoot the messenger.

“Whatever (we) do, whether in word or deed, (we are to) do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” (Colossians 3:17; compare with 1 Corinthians 10:31)

Although God cares deeply about the things you do to and around others, He is also very interested in each and every thing you do even in private. In the times when no one is around, the times when you think you’re completely alone, God sees it all and will bring every deed into judgment—including every hidden thing, good or bad.

So, here’s the question again: As a Super Man of God, what are you doing? Nothing, absolutely nothing we do can be covered up to the point that it will not one day be revealed. Nothing we say or do is so well hidden that it will not be made known. Even the words you quietly whisper in secret will be loudly heard—as if you were standing on top of your roof, shouting it out at the top of your lungs (Luke 12:2-3). You see, God’s “eyes are on all (our) ways; they are not hidden from (Him), nor is (our) sin concealed from (His) eyes” (Jeremiah 16:17 compare with Psalm 90:8, Hebrews 4:13).

Listen now as I read 1 Samuel 2:3. I ask that you consider that verse carefully. “Talk no more so very proudly, do not let arrogance come out of your mouth; for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and with Him actions are weighed.”

God knows each and every one of your choices and behaviors, public and private. But this verse reveals something more, something much deeper. God not only knows all your deeds, but He knows the motivation of your heart behind each deed. He not only knows what you did, He also knows why you did it. Paul warns us that God “will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts” (1 Corinthians 4:5). We do what we do because in our hearts we want what we want. Carefully think my friend. What does your heart want? Does it want to glorify God, or to please self?

In Jeremiah 17:10 God says, “I, the LORD, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.” On the scales of God’s justice your deeds are seriously considered, but God places more weight on your heart’s motivation, on the thoughts you were thinking as you did each deed. Understand this: God searches your heart and examines your mind. (1 Corinthians 4:5). Yes, your deeds are important to God, but even more important is the reason behind them—that which was going on in your thoughts as you did them. And He is not going to reward your deed, no matter how great it might be if the thoughts and motivation behind it were wrong. What you think will become what you do. In order for your deeds and actions to glorify God, your thoughts must glorify Him.

OK. Let’s hit the pause button until next week’s episode as we continue our journey through my book “Are You a Super Man? Becoming God’s Man of Steel.”

As we conclude this week’s powerful podcast, I’d like to take just a moment and give you a glimpse into our ministry. You see, we do a whole lot more here at The Pure Man Ministry than just producing a weekly podcast. We have a free APP entitled “ My Purity Coach ” This app is chocked full of powerful tools to help you in your walk of purity. You’ll find tons of Scripture. Audio and video lessons from the Bible. You listen to this podcast from the app. You can even watch the globally acclaimed video series called “The Chosen” from this app!

If you’re a subscriber to this podcast, then you’ve heard me talk about our “ Point of Purity Program ” – a 12 week, 1-on-1, Bible-Centered coaching program taking you deep into Scripture to teach you how to develop a lifelong strategic plan for sexual purity. I’ve also talked on this podcast about the various books I have written which are all available both on my website (ThePurityCoach.com) and on Amazon .

As a faith-based, donor-supported ministry, all of this (and so much more) is only made possible by our team of ministry partners who give financially to this ministry. Without compromise The Purity Coach shows men and women how to have a continuous relationship with Jesus that is real and personal. To that end we need financial assistance from partners like you who are committed to providing hope and helping men and women across the globe win their personal battle against the beast of sexual impurity. I am personally inviting you to join us as we impact our world by equipping and training men and women how-to live-in purity, godliness, and integrity. To give your tax deductible gift to this ministry today, simply go to “ ThePurityCoach.com ” and click on the “ Donate ” button in the upper right corner. And thank you for partnering with us!

And if you haven’t subscribed to this podcast yet, let me encourage you to do so today so you won’t miss any of our upcoming episodes!

So, until next time this is Author, Speaker, Certified Professional Mentor ^TM and Purity Coach Steve Etner reminding you that if you are going to glorify God in your everyday living, He must first be glorified in your every moment thinking.

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