War Of Words
With the subways and buses on strike for the last three days, the sidewalks and streets have been unusually crowded here in New York. What normally took 20 minutes by subway, took over an hour and half by foot, in the cold. With so many people in so much of a rush the week before Christmas, words flew like arrows and were basically people horns.
People horns in the crowded street. Angry words between a husband a wife, father and daughter, brother and sister… people at work. Beyond this, and even louder- deafening silence. Words and their absence can and do either hurt or heal, promote or steal from God’s glory.
Below is a quote from Paul Tripp’s book, War of Words:
“What moves and motivates everything we do [and say] is not a submission to God’s will and a burning desire for his glory, but our own set of personal desires and dreams. We are excited about the king because we see Him as the most efficient delivery system for those dreams. You can tell what really excites us when we fall into discouragement…”
In this book, Tripp discusses how our words are a reflection of our hearts. In Galations 5:13-18, we see that there is a war for our hearts:
13You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. 14The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 15If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. 16So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
Based on this he surmises that winning the war involves recognizing the destructive power of words. It means exporing our freedom in Christ, saying no to the sinful nature, speaking to serve others in love, speaking in step with the spirit (ie. speaking in a way that reflects His work in me and encourages his work in you), and speaking with a goal to restore (ie. having a restoration agenda shape our relationships, see Gal.6:1-12)
We fail to win the war and don’t speak in gentleness and humility because we forget who we are and our dependence on His grace. Tripp reasons that our words always express the worship of something or someone. Through this book, light on my communication in that great caldron of all spirits- marriage, has been cast. The coldness and apathy of my heart (whose default is to shrivel in to a selfish clod of ‘me’) is revealed through an observation of it’s words, or the lack thereof.
In fighting the war of words, the battle in my heart has revealed to me it’s loyalty. When I meditate on why I love God, I see the shallowness therein. Do I follow him because of what he can do for me? If so, do I really even love Him? Would I be content to just be in His presence for eternity? This Christmas season, on the crowded streets, at work, in cramped stores, and in my young marriage, the war will continue. What a privilege it is to fight to glorify Him in my heart and enjoy Him forever.
People horns in the crowded street. Angry words between a husband a wife, father and daughter, brother and sister… people at work. Beyond this, and even louder- deafening silence. Words and their absence can and do either hurt or heal, promote or steal from God’s glory.
Below is a quote from Paul Tripp’s book, War of Words:
“What moves and motivates everything we do [and say] is not a submission to God’s will and a burning desire for his glory, but our own set of personal desires and dreams. We are excited about the king because we see Him as the most efficient delivery system for those dreams. You can tell what really excites us when we fall into discouragement…”
In this book, Tripp discusses how our words are a reflection of our hearts. In Galations 5:13-18, we see that there is a war for our hearts:
13You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. 14The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 15If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. 16So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
Based on this he surmises that winning the war involves recognizing the destructive power of words. It means exporing our freedom in Christ, saying no to the sinful nature, speaking to serve others in love, speaking in step with the spirit (ie. speaking in a way that reflects His work in me and encourages his work in you), and speaking with a goal to restore (ie. having a restoration agenda shape our relationships, see Gal.6:1-12)
We fail to win the war and don’t speak in gentleness and humility because we forget who we are and our dependence on His grace. Tripp reasons that our words always express the worship of something or someone. Through this book, light on my communication in that great caldron of all spirits- marriage, has been cast. The coldness and apathy of my heart (whose default is to shrivel in to a selfish clod of ‘me’) is revealed through an observation of it’s words, or the lack thereof.
In fighting the war of words, the battle in my heart has revealed to me it’s loyalty. When I meditate on why I love God, I see the shallowness therein. Do I follow him because of what he can do for me? If so, do I really even love Him? Would I be content to just be in His presence for eternity? This Christmas season, on the crowded streets, at work, in cramped stores, and in my young marriage, the war will continue. What a privilege it is to fight to glorify Him in my heart and enjoy Him forever.
1 Comments:
Excellent Post Faris! Very well written and quite practical. Your last paragraph got me thinking about the grounds on which we approach God to begin with. How many of us came to Christ out of an unselfish desire for the truth and his Glory versus simple fear of hell. If you stop ant think about it, it's sheer gift that he even accepts us at allon those grounds. Then again, he doesn't accept us for any good motive in us at all, he takes us on the ground of free grace alone. It is this unmerited love alone that has the power to change a fearful sinner into a son of God, and to temper our tongues so that the words upon them sping from true purity of heart.
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