Friday, August 15, 2014
Proverbs 15:28 The heart of the righteous weighs its answers, but the mouth of the wicked gushes evil.
TWITTER
Twitter is a free social networking service that allows users to send out "updates" or "tweets" to fellow users up to 140 characters long. In today's world instant messaging is the thing, and Twitter provides another way to do that.
As with any invention of sinful man, there's sure to be a dark and ugly side. The messages sent out often reflect humanity's hateful and slanderous heart. The "tweets" aren't always so sweet. Twitter itself is not to blame, although it does make it easier to send out gossip and lies very quickly to a much wider audience.
The child of God needs to ask himself if he's used (is using) social networking tools to God's glory, and for the edification of his neighbor.
We don't limit the discussion to social networking. We look at our lives and can readily see how our words can be very hurtful to others, even to those whom we love the most. We don't always weigh our words carefully, but rather find ourselves gushing evil, using our words to tear down rather than build up.
As with all sins, we take our gossip, lies, and unkind words to Jesus' cross. There we find forgiveness for them all. Jesus died and was punished for all our unloving communication, and His blood cleanses us from all sin. And as the Spirit lays the sweet Gospel of our Savior upon our hearts, we are led to communicate in a Christlike way, in a loving way that benefits those around us. The Apostle Paul shows us the way when he writes:
"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that is may benefit those who listen" (Ephesians 4:29).
