Episode Eleven: Discipline of the Tongue

Hello everyone! This week's episode is over the discipline of the tongue, and why we should watch what comes out of our mouths. We should uplift others instead of bringing them down. It can also cause negative consequences to ourselves. Remember...Keep seeking your purpose. Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Welcome to the Purpose Podcast. I am your host, Gabe. And I'm your co-host, Josh. And today is March 12th, 2026. And I think you're gonna be seeing us on Monday, the 16th.

SPEAKER_00 0:17

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 0:18

Not like I said before, it ain't really good with dates. So we'll see when I go to posters if that's the right date. Is that gonna be St. Patrick's Day?

SPEAKER_00 0:28

The day before St. Patrick's Day.

SPEAKER_01 0:30

Okay, okay. Yeah, I don't I don't really don't. I really don't know our holidays. Um inspirational quote for today is the only thing necessary for a triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing by Edmund Burt. That's very true. How's how's your week been, Josh?

SPEAKER_00 0:56

It's been good. It's been a little bit slower. You know, we got through um some finals with classes. We getting through the week with work, and um, it's been it's been a lot slower, a lot better. How's your week been?

SPEAKER_01 1:13

Same, brother. Just very slow. It's been a long one, and I'm ready for the weekend.

SPEAKER_00 1:20

Oh, yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_01 1:21

I get a full two days, I can go to work Saturday, so that's that's a blessing. Same. Thank God for those blessings. Oh, yes. Today's topic is discipline of the tongue. And you know, one thing that I got from this lesson is that people really don't see discipline, or people usually see discipline as a routine of like workouts or finances, but the biggest discipline, or what I believe is the biggest discipline, is about the controlling of our mouse.

SPEAKER_00 1:54

And I think it's one that a lot of people tend to overlook because when I know when I was doing my research for this, I a lot of stuff was coming to my mind, like, oh, I need to do better about that. A lot of people need to do better about that.

SPEAKER_01 2:14

And one of the things I got was from the verses of Proverbs 1821. Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Your words have like so much power, and a lot of times it's your words can speak louder than your actions. You can tear people down or you can bring them up, but we should bring people up by validation, encouragement, and hope instead of negative interactions like criticism and harshness. Negative behavior can cause emotional damage and it can hurt their confidence. Mark 11:14, it says, and he said to it, May no one ever eat fruit from you again. And the disciples heard it. Now, this story is about the fig tree. And after he said this the next day, the fig tree got withered to its root. Now, think about this. What if you wish harsh things on someone? Jesus cursing the fig tree was a different lesson. It was more about faith than you know being wicked somebody. But I feel like we can also turn this into a lesson on the power of tongue. It can be a teaching moment. So, what if you're wishing harsh things on someone? And like say you told them that you wished good never comes to them. And one of the things that we hear a lot, and we can see it like in different movies, TV shows, we can hear it from people in the real world. A lot of times you hear, I hope you're right in hell. I'm sure you've probably heard it before, Josh. I mean, I have. Yeah, a lot. And you know, someone hearing that might bring them down into a spiral and into a downward spiral in their life. You might speak these harsh words into existence in their life, and it's kind of you know, like when he was talking about the fig tree, he said um that fruit is not going to come from it again, and then it withered to its roots. You know, he spoke that into existence.

SPEAKER_02 4:35

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 4:35

But he kind of do the same thing. I mean, it's it's two different things, you know, he he is God, you know, whatever he says goes, but it kind of it kind of shadows like how we we can speak some of the existence by saying it. So we should always speak good. Uh-huh. So, but so instead, we should say things like, I'm gonna pray for you, or you know, like have a blessed day. You go into an argument, have a blessed day. Yeah, I'm gonna pray for you. But also don't say it, don't say it in a way like you know, you're using it to your advantage, say it in a way you know, just come from the heart, and it's your meaning for it and goodwill. Always speak positive to somebody, and at least at least that way it's verbal encouragement, and you're also planting a seed in their life, right?

SPEAKER_00 5:32

And honestly, it it doesn't matter how big or small a word is, it can be very powerful, and most of the time we don't realize how much power a word has until after we've already used it or after we send it. And words can hurt, but they can also heal too at the same time. And that's why we've got to be careful with um what we say. People can take things out of context very easily, and we see this a lot of time when we're about texting each other, you know, because you're not really face-to-face, you know, you don't have that human interaction, but we also see it happen when it is face-to-face, and um sometimes just one sentence or even one word can change the way someone sees themselves or sees the world around them. And there's a couple Bible verses that really stuck with me, and um one of them is Colossians 4, 6. It says, Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. And the other one comes from Matthew 12, 30, 37, and these are words of Jesus. It says, For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. So when we talk, we're not just making noises, we're also showing what's in our hearts, and our words carry our intentions and our emotions, and ideally, we should be using them to lift people up, to give people encouragement and um confidence and also hope.

SPEAKER_01 7:20

But you know, like if you speak, you know, confidence in somebody's life, then that might put them in a situation where they're open to, man, you know, he's a nice guy. Uh-huh. Does he go to church? They might just start questioning, like, man, maybe if it's making a difference in his life, maybe it'll make a difference in mine.

SPEAKER_00 7:43

Yeah. And you want the way that you speak, you want that to become part of who you are. You don't want to be known as someone who constantly puts others down or even puts yourself down. And even somebody that's like very boastful, you don't want to be known as that. But um, that's not the kind of energy people remember in a good way. So we need to try to speak with grace. We need to, when we speak to people, we need to try to uplift them, talk with encouragement, because you never know who might need to hear something kind that day. And um, your words really do matter more than what you think they do.

SPEAKER_01 8:26

And one another thing we have to think about whenever we're thinking of the power of words is how can we tame the tongue? And one of the one some of the scripture that I found in in the Bible is from James 3, 5 through 6. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire, and the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. So the small fire equals your words, forest is set ablaze, equals your consequences. Your tongue can get you in trouble, right? So let's say, for example, let's say you have a job and say that you you have a co-worker that you really don't care about, and so let's say you and another fellow co-worker start gossiping about this person, and let's say the the coworker you're talking about is to say that she's on the other side of the wall if she overhears you. So at this point, there's three options that may happen. They'll either start talking about you, they're gonna have some words, or they'll go tell the boss. In any way you put it, there's gonna be negative consequences because what's gonna happen is they're gonna start talking about you, and later on that's gonna lead to another altercation. Y'all gonna have some words, more than likely, y'all both gonna get rowed up, y'all both gonna be sent some to the boss's office or HR's office. Three, they'll go to the boss, they won't get in trouble for what they done, but you will, you're gonna get rowed up, you're gonna go to HR or the boss's office. So it's kind of better to stay clear from the gossip and drama by taming your tongue and to speak well into others instead of turning your back on people, right?

SPEAKER_00 10:38

And um, I think taming the tongue is a really good subject to talk about because I feel like it's something that, including myself, everybody could everybody's convicted of it, uh-huh. Um, and just like words, the tongue is also powerful. Our tongue can lead us into something destructive, or it could also direct us into something amazing. And the Bible says in Proverbs 18.21, death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit. And Proverbs 21, 23 also says, whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles. And we can easily get caught up in our emotions and let something slip out that we shouldn't say. And um we can act with carelessness, anger, and other emotions which can make it make or break relationships. But the same tongue, the same tongue can also do incredible good, it can comfort someone, encourage them, it can calm um more tense situations, and it can remind others that they're not alone. And that's the part we don't really really talk about. Um, our words can destroy, but they can also build. So when we tame the tongue, we also tame the environment that we're around in. Because once words leave your mouth, they don't come back, they impact, their impact sticks around. So that's why it's very important to choose your words um in a good manner, choose them nicely, correctly, and also if you don't have nothing nice to say, just don't say it at all. I agree 100%. And um tame your tongue, you know. If you're gonna talk about people, at least talk about them in a good way, uplift them because you don't know what situation they're in. And if you're constantly talking negative about them or um going around saying stuff about them, that gets a negative outlook on that person's life and on your life as well.

SPEAKER_01 13:00

So, Josh, one question I got for you is the how can we train tongue through our hearts?

SPEAKER_00 13:07

Um, well, Jesus says in Matthew 15, 18, but those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart and they defile a man. So our thoughts and words that we release, they stem from what our heart believes. And um, whatever emotions we're feeling on the inside is what we're going to is what we're going to release on the outside. And um if we're full of anger, frustration, insecurity, that's gonna come out in the way with that we speak. But if our hearts are filled with patience, kindness, and peace, that shows up as well. So I think how to train the tongue through the heart is you need a heart check. You need to, if you have if your heart's filled with depression, anxiety, anger, you need to let that go and you need to replace it with um peace and kindness and patience because whatever emotions that your heart is feeling, that's what is gonna come out of your mouth. Or I think you need like a heart check. You need to check how you feel. Check your heart. Yeah, check your heart because your heart's gonna tell your mouth what to say.

SPEAKER_01 14:30

I think that's a good explanation there. I think that's a good way to train your heart. Uh, the verse I got whenever I was studying was in Matthew 12. And in this chapter, there's a verse that states, for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. And so the way I got from from the saying was that your words reflect your moral character. If we'll say a random person, a rant a random person sees you in Walmart, and let's say someone rams a buggy into your buggy, and let's say that you get mad and you start cussing at them, you start speaking in on them. What do you think that what do you think a random person from afar is going to think? What do you think that they're gonna think about you? You know, they're probably gonna think, man, he they're not really a godly person. Uh-huh. But see, but in reality, we should always strive to be a godly person, even though we will we will always fall short of the glory of God, but we should always strive to be like that, even though we always fall short. Uh-huh. So one thing I'm wanting I'm going to encourage through this is if we start to feel the urge to speak ill or cuss, then we should bite our tongue, and we should remove ourselves from that conversation. And you know, it might be hard at first because you're probably used to it, but once you make it a habit, then it becomes easier to avoid these certain conversations or situations, right? So we should always remember that the Lord knows our true character, and he knows that he knows every word that's what we're gonna say.

SPEAKER_00 16:19

Uh-huh. He has the thoughts that you might not even say, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 16:24

He he knows he knows everything. Uh-huh. So let's just try ourselves do better.

SPEAKER_00 16:30

Yeah. And I I think it goes from me for everybody out there listening. And um, we all need a heart check, we all need to do better. Um, and we need to speak in a not so negative way.

SPEAKER_01 16:51

Yeah, you don't you really don't see people now go to somebody they don't like and just say, you know, have a blessed day, or uh, I'll pray for you, or nothing. You see them mostly try just to talk crap behind their back, kind of instead of being a godly person to them. Right. So pretty much what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna challenge anybody who feels like that they're constantly gossiping, or maybe they cuss, maybe they talk ills to people, they don't have the right vocabulary. I'm gonna encourage y'all that every time that y'all feel the urge to do any of that, kind of like step back, kind of step away from the conversation, or kind of it's kind of like if if you're in a conversation with somebody who's doing it, just kind of like try your best to kind of ignore it, kind of look look past the words and just it's like shake your head, say, yeah, yeah, you know, yeah, but don't partake in those words, don't partake in speaking evil, uh-huh, and then encourage that person, just encourage that and uplift that person and encourage them that you know, hey, maybe maybe we should try to think the best in the situation, or maybe let's let's just try to get different vocabulary. I mean that's probably not gonna sit well, but or what you can also do is just say just bring up subtly say, Hey, look, I've been listening to this podcast, you should listen to it.

SPEAKER_00 18:40

Yeah, you can watch the latest episode, and it's about uh the discipline of tongues, and maybe I'll play something, you know, change it from gossip to promotion, exactly, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 18:56

So I thought this was a good topic, you know. This is something that ABA goes through. I mean, I go through it, you know, I can do better. I know I can.

SPEAKER_00 19:05

I can too, and like I said, I feel like this is for everybody, us, everybody listening. It's a good reminder.

SPEAKER_01 19:13

Oh, yeah, for sure, for sure. But I think on that note, we're gonna end that we're gonna end the episode on that. Um, go follow us on our socials on Instagram, TikTok, and if you're watching us on YouTube, make sure to go follow us on the Apple Podcasts. If you're on the Apple Podcast, make sure you go like and subscribe on YouTube. Y'all have a good week. Happy Saint Patty. Happy Saint Patrick's Day. And remember to tell your friends about the podcast and make sure they tell other people about it. Uh so we can reach more people. That's the point of doing this, is just reaching people.

SPEAKER_00 19:51

Yes, we try to make heaven more crowded.

SPEAKER_01 19:54

Exactly. We're we're trying to this ain't about us getting famous, this is about us reaching people. Um, this is about us uh growing in our faith, it's also about getting make sure other people grow in their faith, right? So, on that note, always remember seek your