Patient Lips

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue,

and those who love it will eat its fruits.”

Proverbs 18:21, ESV

Patience.

Who wants it? 


No one.

Who needs it? 


Everyone.

About four years ago, I launched what I have now come to define as a truly rewarding journey. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, I found myself writing my first published book Weeding Impatience—learning, absorbing, and seeking to exercise daily scriptural truths on the virtue of patience. I was led to write about God’s immeasurable patience with rebellious humanity and how His patience means salvation for those who believe. I was also prompted to focus on our need for patience in many areas such as ill health, food, money, relationships, sex, and spirituality.

To be sure, the above were (and still are) very difficult and convicting topics to consider and address. Yet now, long after the release of the book, I am finding a new subject matter that demands utmost attention from me—the use of my lips. Like a log begging to be removed from my eye, this issue quickly sprouted in the aftermath of the recent Nye/Ham debate on the viability of Creationism in this scientific era.

My lips were dying to move 90 miles a minute as pictures, status updates, tweets, and blog posts invaded cyber space from people camping on either side of the question. I was determined to speak sense into the brains of the contributors whose words, I am sad to say, were venomous and reckless. It was as if those engaged in the battle saw fit to outdo each other in fits of rage and insults.

However, try as I may, God prevented me from writing . . . ranting, really. As He did for Balaam, the Father sent His angel to block my irate path. Instead, He made me realize there was wisdom to be gained while waiting with a prayerful attitude despite the vitriolic noise that erupted after the debate. During that waiting period, I gratefully came to understand that “the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (James 1:20, ESV). In other words, divine wisdom encouraged me to be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger.

I want patient lips.

I want lips that are kind, conciliatory, slow to anger, and abounding in love. For one thing, patience invites me to thank God for the lips I do have before I even think of addressing people. Gratitude opens my heart and mind to realize that not everyone has lips. In fact, a cousin of mine was born with a cleft palate. It was by the grace of God through a wonderful medical missionary to Haiti that he was able to receive lips to use. In other cases, leprosy has eaten away many lips whereas mine are still intact and functioning.

Clearly, I have cause to celebrate and express gratitude to the Father because the lips I possess are His blessings to me—enabling me to respond to Him and serve His children. Moreover, the words that cross the threshold of my lips matter. They either tear down or build up; they either produce death or engender life.

Furthermore, five scriptural concepts come to mind when it comes to the use of my lips:

-                Using words sparingly. Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still and know that I am God.” Ecclesiastes 5:2 states, “God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.” And, Proverbs 10:19 reminds us, “When words are plenty, sin is not absent.”

-                Unlocking lips for God. Psalm 51:15, “O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise.”

-                Uttering praise to God. Psalm 150:6, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.”

-                Unarming or starving deadly talk. Proverbs 10:18 asserts, “A slanderer is a fool.” Colossians 3:8-10, “But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.”

-                Unrolling words of life and encouragement. 1 Timothy 4:12, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity.”

As I think of the crucifixion and death of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I am awestruck by the choice He made on the cross to remain obedient to the five scriptural concepts presented above. He has patient and fruitful lips!

For me, not much in my life is required to activate my loquaciousness in the presence of people, to lock my lips in God’s presence, to withhold praise from the Creator, to fertilize deadly and detrimental language, and to refrain from speaking words of life and encouragement in my sphere of influence. Yet, for the Son of Man, His excruciating circumstance was a gracious opportunity to allow seven defining and life-producing statements to cross the doorsill of His patient lips.

1.              The Word of Absolution. “Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34, NIV). Christ’s words are powerful because, instead of the self-centeredness and impatience my own lips are so prone to display, they contain grace and love.

2.              The Word of Assurance. “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43, NIV). Addressed to one of the criminals who hailed Christ as King and Savior, these words depict grace poured out through faith, providing confirmation of forgiveness and eternal salvation to the dying man.

3.              The Word of Attentiveness. “When Jesus saw His mother there, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, ‘Dear woman, here is your son,’ and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother’ ” (John 19:26-27, NIV). Even in His indefensible position on the cross, Jesus showed the responsible care of an eldest son who still had concerns for the essential needs of Mary after His death. Since His half-brothers were nowhere to be found, He lovingly entrusted this noble task to John, the apostle.

4.              The Word of Abandonment. “About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachtani?’ (Which means, ‘My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?’).” (Matthew 27:46, NIV). As agonizing as His physical pain was, nothing was more heartbreaking to Christ than the separation He experienced from His Father as He took upon Himself the full weight of sin. Still, instead of hurling out filthy language, He chose to quote the opening words of Psalm 22.

5.              The Word of Agony. “Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, ‘I am thirsty.’ A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips” (John 19:28-29, NIV). Again, Christ’s anguish was so intense that He could have chosen to express it differently; instead, He fulfilled the messianic prophecy recorded in Psalm 69:21, “They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.”

6.              The Word of Accomplishment. “When He had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘Tetelestai’ or ‘It is finished.’ ” (John 19:30). He was essentially saying to His Father that His work had been completed. The deed was done. The terrible pain He endured was worth it—the spiritual pain of being separated from His father, the emotional pain of being ridiculed and His nakedness exposed to the world, and the physical pain of torture. He has brought justice to the world. He has put the finishing touches to the vibrant masterpiece He has created. He has severed all ties between those who believe and the deeds of darkness. He has borne beauty, light, love, and goodness to the world.

7.              The Word of Ascent. “Jesus called out with a loud voice, ‘Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit.’ When He had said this, He breathed His last” (Luke 23:46, NIV). Here, His final words to the Father are extracted from Psalm 31:5. These words are filled with trust, rest, and confidence.

May I remember the power of words as I approach God’s throne today! May I enter each circumstance—the good and the bad—in a manner that offers up my lips as pleasing sacrifices to God, patiently surrendering my tongue and lips and teeth and mouth to the Master! May patience place a restraining order on my lips when I am provoked or enticed, hence eliminating the potential for ruined relationships through reckless words—insults, malice, gossip, slander, slur, or sabotage! And, when I fail the patience tests over and over, may I remember my Savior whose flawless record obliterates my guilt!