"Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak [this] to your shame." 1 Cor. 15:33-34
In my travels thus far, I have came across many different opinions on what is good and what is bad, when considering our day-to-day talking.
Now, we looked as this some in an earlier blog entry ("Faith, Works And The Open Mouth"). But, where as that was more a look at what we should originate verbally, today I'd like us to look at the influence of the people around us.
Verse thirty-three warns us to beware of deception concerning a fact. That fact is that "evil communications corrupt good manners." Does that mean that getting a telegram from satan would lead to burping at the dinner table? I don't think so. Let's examine that second half of the verse in the Greek.
"μη πλανασθε φθειρουσιν ηθη χρησθ ομιλιαι κακαι" (Textus Receptus)
The last two words in bold are rooted in 'homilia kakos', which means "injurious talk." It carries a sense of bad or evil...intended to cause harm. The final three words in bold are based on the roots 'chrestos ethos phtheiro', which means "good moral habits to wither."
So, verse 33 looks to be saying, "Don't be deceived! Mean, hurtful talk makes good morals wither away." Now, why would Paul be led of the Holy Spirit to tell us this? Perhaps a clue can be found in verse 34....
"Awake to righteousness, and sin not"--that doesn't really need much digging into to find the meaning. When we communicate with other, unsaved people in a manner that appears to be like they would talk to one another, we are making our good moral habits (i.e. our witness of Jesus) to wither away, like a flower with no water. It just wilts away. Instead, we need to revive our awareness of the righteousness that has been imparted to us. We must not let sin slip out of our mouths. We should fight every moment to keep to the path that Jesus has called us to travel. And, why should we do this?
Paul continues, "for some have not the knowledge of God." Ouch!
We never know for sure who has been called to Jesus, who is going to be called to Him, who will be kept from being His. What if that one time we let a cuss word fly without thinking was the turning point of a person to forever reject Jesus' call? What if the little white lie came to be seen in the full light of day? The rumor, the gossip, the backbiting...any of our words or deeds can be used for spreading His Word, or for blocking it's spread.
Verse 34 concludes with the blunt statement, "I speak [this] to your shame."
Every Christian has made the mistake of letting the mouth run rampant. But, we must make every effort to both refrain from being "of this world" in our actions, and to carry out every effort to portray Jesus in every word we speak. To fail to make this effort will truly bring nothing but shame when we account for our rewards in heaven.
Grace and Peace....
Now, we looked as this some in an earlier blog entry ("Faith, Works And The Open Mouth"). But, where as that was more a look at what we should originate verbally, today I'd like us to look at the influence of the people around us.
Verse thirty-three warns us to beware of deception concerning a fact. That fact is that "evil communications corrupt good manners." Does that mean that getting a telegram from satan would lead to burping at the dinner table? I don't think so. Let's examine that second half of the verse in the Greek.
"μη πλανασθε φθειρουσιν ηθη χρησθ ομιλιαι κακαι" (Textus Receptus)
The last two words in bold are rooted in 'homilia kakos', which means "injurious talk." It carries a sense of bad or evil...intended to cause harm. The final three words in bold are based on the roots 'chrestos ethos phtheiro', which means "good moral habits to wither."
So, verse 33 looks to be saying, "Don't be deceived! Mean, hurtful talk makes good morals wither away." Now, why would Paul be led of the Holy Spirit to tell us this? Perhaps a clue can be found in verse 34....
"Awake to righteousness, and sin not"--that doesn't really need much digging into to find the meaning. When we communicate with other, unsaved people in a manner that appears to be like they would talk to one another, we are making our good moral habits (i.e. our witness of Jesus) to wither away, like a flower with no water. It just wilts away. Instead, we need to revive our awareness of the righteousness that has been imparted to us. We must not let sin slip out of our mouths. We should fight every moment to keep to the path that Jesus has called us to travel. And, why should we do this?
Paul continues, "for some have not the knowledge of God." Ouch!
We never know for sure who has been called to Jesus, who is going to be called to Him, who will be kept from being His. What if that one time we let a cuss word fly without thinking was the turning point of a person to forever reject Jesus' call? What if the little white lie came to be seen in the full light of day? The rumor, the gossip, the backbiting...any of our words or deeds can be used for spreading His Word, or for blocking it's spread.
Verse 34 concludes with the blunt statement, "I speak [this] to your shame."
Every Christian has made the mistake of letting the mouth run rampant. But, we must make every effort to both refrain from being "of this world" in our actions, and to carry out every effort to portray Jesus in every word we speak. To fail to make this effort will truly bring nothing but shame when we account for our rewards in heaven.
Grace and Peace....
