Stop trying to be someone you are not


Let the teachers be the teachers

Gift of teaching

Is 50:4 The Sovereign LORD has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.

Romans 12:6-8 6We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his[b]faith. 7If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully…………….

Ephesians 4:11-13 11It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Teachers will help us – false teachers will simply deal death and confusion…………..

Avoid greater judgment


Avoid stumbling


When we do stumble


Reign in our unruly tongues

It can turn the whole “animal”


It can steer a storm tossed ship


It is small in size but great in boasting


It can set an entire forest on fire


It can promote evil, corruption, and judgment

Prov 21:23 23 He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity.

Prov 26:28 28 A lying tongue hates those it hurts, and a flattering mouth works ruin.


It can impact our life’s direction

Job 20:12-16, Prov 23:32
Romans 3:10-18
Man can tame all kinds of animals

Animals once tamed can stay that way

But no man can tame the tongue

Which by nature is:

Untamable – can’t control it……….

Restless – can’t find stability, equilibrium, balance so it can stop moving and rest

Evil -

Venomous – death ….like the poison that is injected into a victim from the hostile strike of a deadly snake

When set on fire by hell it is like the constantly moving, victim seeking, death dealing tongue of a venomous snake…….

(Illus. effects of wildfires and how much they consume this past year..... Oct. 4, 2020, 5:53 PM EDT
By Tim Stelloh
ALAMEDA, Calif. — California marked a grim milestone Sunday as the number of acres burned during a record wildfire year surpassed 4 million, officials said.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, didn't provide an exact amount of land that had been scorched this year, but it said in a daily statewide summary that more than 8,200 fires have burned "well over" 4 million acres.

Annual statistics from the department dating to 1987 show that 2020 has more than doubled the previous record.

As many as 20,000 firefighters, some coming from as far away as Israel, have responded to scores of major fires across the state this year. Thirty-one people have died.

The largest, most destructive blazes have occurred since mid-August, when thousands of lightning strikes sparked dozens of fires in Northern California, including the largest wildfire in state history, the nearly 1 million-acre August Complex fire, which is burning across six counties.

Cal Fire said Sunday that the fire has killed one person and destroyed 159 structures. It was 51 percent contained.)https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/california-exceeds-4-million-acres-bur...

But God can…..

Praise God and then

Yet curse His creation…..? 9,10

Shouldn't be......thanks for the news flash vs. 10


Creation that is made in God's image



Root condition

You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.

Matthew 15:18
But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man ‘unclean’.

1. Fresh or salty water flow?


2. Frustrated?

Getting intended fruit?

or figs instead of olives

grapes instead of figs

Is life producing what you want it to? vs. 12

What needs to change?

We are commanded to control the tongue – so it must be possible

Colossians 4:6 6Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Ephesians 4:29 29Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

24And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25Those who oppose him he must gently instruct,……

God’s wisdom provides words of life to replace the death dealing venomous words of hell’s influence in our hearts…..which we will explain in a moment….

The Spirit provides self – control

Stability - v. 1-2

Capability for good and bad– v. 3-6




Get help – v. 7-8


Start looking to God for consistency – v. 9-12