PORCENTAJE DE CONSUMO DE ALCOHOL SEGÚN LA EDAD CATEGORIA

The tongue can be a great source of comfort or an unruly evil. As it is written,

“Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind.

But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing.

My brethren, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.”

(James 3:5–12)

There are times that our words can be poison. Knowing this, we ought to take to heart the words we choose to use. Our words must be life, truth, and spoken in love.

If we are to emulate Christ in our speech, we ought to choose words that heal.

But there are times that the things we say break down, tear apart, or don’t edify.

Yet if we speak through love, our words will be seasoned with salt.

We know that the salt is Christ. Therefore, when we use salty words, we point others back to Christ. Before speaking, ask yourself, “Am I turning this person back to Christ with what I’m about to say?” and “Am I speaking with love?”

Sometimes our words can be harsh. If we don’t think before we speak, we can destroy an already broken heart. But by choosing words that heal, we can lift up, build up, strengthen, and edify.

But this can be difficult, especially during tense moments. In the expressions of anger, we tend to say things we don’t mean. But lost friendships and broken hearts aren’t worth the few costly words we use.

When we speak in anger, we epitomize the “hell fire” tongue. We speak condemning words of doom, brokenness, and disaster on another. Yet we know that we will be judged according to our judgment. If we speak in love and build

others up in kindness, how might the Lord judge us?

Ultimately, when we choose wrongful words, we’re acting in the flesh. By establishing the difference between the flesh and the Spirit, we can understand how to have wholesome words.

Our words reflect our hearts. If we’re accustomed to sitting idly in the flesh, we will most likely speak through the flesh. The flesh prefers idle things and everything contrary to the Lord. But if we meditate on the Spirit, we will desire and speak of those things that glorify God through the Spirit.

Seeing that the mouth is the centerpiece of all human communication, it is necessary to have a tasteful tongue. We must learn to use tasteful words established in the love of God. We must grow in building up, edifying, and strengthening one another with love.

We can’t always tell when someone else’s heart is weary. We don’t always know what they’re thinking or what’s going on in the secret place of their heart. But if we season our mouths with love, we will always speak tastefully.

It’s a true statement that we should think before we speak. We must all learn to be more effective communicators of the heart of God. It is not merely that we should express our own hearts but that we should express the heart of Christ.

Our hearts must conform to His, and seeing that this is the case, we should be expressing His heart and not our own.

When we only express our own hearts, we express the flesh. We are called to submit to His heart. If we seek His heart and act in it, then we will act in Christ.

But if we seek our own heart while ignoring His, we will express our words through the flesh.

Ultimately, we are called to speak and work through the Spirit, not the heart of the flesh. If we speak through the flesh, we will guide others to idleness and sin with unedifying speech. But if we speak through the Spirit, being sober in the Spirit, we will lead one another to the light of life.

As we know, the works of the flesh are sin, and the works of the Spirit are light and life. If we conduct ourselves through the Spirit, then we will seek the things of the Spirit. If we seek the things of the Spirit, we will speak the things of the Spirit.

Remember also that the first fruit of the Spirit is love. By restraining our hearts and listening carefully for the Lord, we will more effectively communicate His

heart to those we love. If we love one another, we will show it through the sincerity of the Spirit.

Knowing this, we must pay attention to our own hearts. We need to ask ourselves, “How am I being loving with what I’m saying?” or “How is this leading them to Christ?” as we mentioned before.

If we aren’t careful to guard our hearts, our words will tear down an already broken person. But love is a healer. If we love with our words, we will choose words that heal.

Knowing this, we should be circumspect and look for the hurting. Open your eyes to the needs of others around you. Is anyone suffering? Is anyone discouraged or weary? Show them the love they deserve.

If you don’t guard your mouth, you could say something that will further hurt or discourage them. But if you love them, then speak words of comfort through the Holy Spirit. Let love guide your mouth and build up their hearts.

Don’t pass up anyone with a downcast spirit. Don’t let a single person slip through your fingers. If anyone is hurting, show them the love of Christ.

Encourage them, edify them, build them up, and comfort them.

Make their situation as if it were your own. How would you want to be comforted? How would you want someone to help you? What do you wish someone would say to you if you were in their circumstance?

Speak these things to them and so fulfill the love of Christ. Comfort the fainthearted, satisfy the weary, and uphold the weak. Be diligent to present Christ to all men, seasoning your words with salt.

Salty words are more than words spoken in kindness. Salty words are also the words of the Spirit. Let the Spirit speak through you by being an avid listener of the Holy Spirit. This is why we put “avid listener” before this one as a habit.

Listen carefully to the voice of God that you may convey the messages of God.

Listen for His beating heart that you may share His heart. Listen to the sound of His love, be motivated by it, and share it with others.

Also, be careful to turn from idle speech. If there is anything that does not edify, if there is anything that does not glorify the Lord, or if there’s anything that isn’t pertaining to Christ, then it is idle. Steer your conversations back to holiness. Do not be caught up in a drawn out, idle conversation.

Don’t try to bring God into the conversation. Rather, make Him the centerpiece.

Too many Christians have a habit of bringing God into their lives versus making Him the entire point of life. Some Christians choose to be idle and think they can honor the Lord by randomly bringing Him into the picture.

But God needs to be the source and center of who we are. If He is, then it will be reflected in our words. But among some Christians, the idle topic, idle activity, or idle situation is the centerpiece, and Christ is the removable object. If He can be brought into the conversation or activity, then He can be removed from it just as easily.

If anyone loves their spouse, they will speak well of them every time they mention them. Anyone who is madly in love can’t stop talking about the person they love. We likewise should continually have the Lord on our mouths. Words are the overflow of the heart. So if we love the Lord, then many edifying and encouraging conversations will spring forth every day.

How are we turning others to Christ if we’re not sharing Christ? We are saved by faith, and faith comes by hearing. How are the unbelievers receiving Jesus if we aren’t sharing Him with them in our conversations?

Some have a habit of avoiding God altogether and merely showing acts of kindness. While kindness is necessary for conviction, if we do not establish convicting words, there will be no repentance. Beloved, speak well of your Heavenly Spouse, and turn your conversations back to the Lord.

As it is also written,

“How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!’” (Rom. 10:14–15)

The unbeliever will not believe if you don’t share the goodness of the Lord with them. You must preach Christ to the unsaved. Don’t let them slip between your fingers like a gardener does the dirt. Be kind in your conduct, but share truth in your words. No one gets saved by kindness alone. You have to talk about the Lord with them. If they revile you for it, then love on them.

Don’t press someone incessantly who doesn’t want to hear it. Share what they need to hear, but show them what they need to see. Show them Christ through kindness. Those that don’t want to hear about Christ have already heard the Gospel and rejected it. There is no one that can be offended at the Gospel

without having heard it. How can anyone be offended by something they’ve never heard of? But all find offense through the things they see and hear.

Indeed, speak truth to those that are offended, for without it, they can’t believe.

But with these be diligent to love them though they hate you. Be kind to them, and cherish their needs. In this, they will be greatly convicted because having hated you, you’ve loved them.

Before we received Christ, our conduct was hateful toward Him. Even if we didn’t intend it to be, when we didn’t love Him, we worked out hatred against Him. Yet He, having experienced hatred from us, was diligent to repay us with love—a love that cost Him His life. Then we, having experienced love though we hated Him, were broken. Thus in our brokenness, we repented and found Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. So it was the loving kindness of the Lord that led us to repentance, and if we give others the same through our words and conduct, they may likely repent as well.

Beloved, emulate the heart of Christ in this. Be Jesus to all men. You are an ambassador of Christ; therefore do what Jesus would do. And what would He do to His enemy?

He would pray for those that spitefully use Him. He would cherish the needs of those that accuse Him. He would be willing to forgive those that seek His destruction. He would care for them when they’re sick, deliver them from catastrophe, and comfort their hearts with kindness.

Any man that rejects the Lord is condemned. If you love these people, you’ll be compelled to express your love to them. The Lord doesn’t desire their condemnation but feeds them daily. He causes the rain to fall, the seed to grow, and the food to be found on their tables. He provides for the needs of evil men.

Therefore let us be found doing the same.

Let the evil see your good works and be convicted by the loving kindness you show them. Take care of them and relieve them from suffering. Feed their needs and cherish them. If God tells you to leave them alone and do nothing, then obey. Otherwise seek good for those who hate you, as Jesus did for us when we hated Him.

If they reject the Lord, know that they will reject you. If they hate Jesus, know that they’ll hate you as well. If they despise the words of Christ, they’ll count you as an abomination.

They will persecute you, hurt you, laugh at your calamity, and seek your

destruction. They will be kind to your face but stab you behind your back. Repay their evil with good, and be the image of Christ in all your conduct. Though they think their works are hidden and count you as a fool for your kindness, God sees everything and will repay them. If you will be judged according to your works, what will be the end of those who persecuted you for your kindness?

Know that Jesus doesn’t deal with unrepentant sinners forever. Neither should you. There is a time and a place for every activity under the sun. There is a time to share love and to push through persecution. But there is also a time to flee from persecution. As it is written,

“When they persecute you in this city, flee to another…” (Matt. 10:23) And also,

“Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?

And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.’ Therefore

‘Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.’

‘I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the LORD Almighty.’ Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (2 Cor. 6:14–7:1)

By communing with the world, you are fellowshipping with the world. You serve God, but they serve Satan through their wicked conduct and unrepentance.

What does God have to do with Satan? Should the devil sit at the same table as God? If he does, there will be conflict.

But for anyone who calls themselves a Christian, if they never seem to conflict with the world around them to some degree, it may be because they are becoming men pleasers rather than God pleasers. Not that we should look for conflict but that it comes naturally by seeking to be godly in an evil world.

As it is written,

“Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” (2 Tim. 3:12)

Yet those that man-please suffer little because they hide their good works and commune with evil out of fear for persecution.

But what is written about pleasing men?

“For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.” (Gal. 1:10)

Again, we are not saying to look for conflict but rather that the world naturally conflicts with the children of God. As we read,

“Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” (Gal. 4:28–30)

If you seek to be godly, you will be persecuted. If you walk in love, you’ll be despised. But some will be convicted and repent. Yet if you man please, then you’re no longer serving Christ. In this, it’s always good to test yourself and determine whether you’re fearing man or pleasing God.

Ask yourself, “In what ways do I please men rather than God?” If there is any way that you have been, repent and honor the Lord. Do what is right in God’s eyes, not man’s.

Look for ways you haven’t “cast out the bondwoman” from your life, and separate yourself to the Lord. Be sanctified to Him and set apart for His purpose.

God has a plan for you. Therefore surrender to it and follow Him in it. This will require you to leave the world behind. Nevertheless, do not fear, for it is in God’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. As we read,

“Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Luke 12:32–34)

Do not live for this world, but live for Christ. Perfect yourself in holiness, and do not be influenced by the world. Act and speak in love, as Christ would do, and be set apart for God’s use. Sanctified literally means to be set apart for the purpose of God. Be sanctified in Christ Jesus, and come out from the world around you. Yes, we are called to be in the world but not of the world.