In his sermon 'Love Life and See Good Days', Scott Brown discusses the importance of governing the tongue as taught in James chapter 3. He emphasizes that the tongue, like a rudder, directs the course of life and must be tamed to create a peaceful and loving church community. The sermon outlines a church covenant that encourages members to avoid gossip, slander, and other sins of the tongue that can destroy relationships. Brown stresses the cultivation of Christian sympathy, feeling, and courtesy in speech, urging believers to refrain from speaking evil and to be slow to take offense. He advocates for thinking the best of others and being ready for reconciliation, following biblical guidelines to maintain unity and love within the church. The sermon concludes with the encouragement to speak words of life, build others up, and guard one's tongue from evil, fostering a culture of kindness and godliness.

Please open your Bibles to the third chapter of James. James chapter 3, one of the critical texts on this matter of the use of the tongue, we will just read verse 17 and 18. Verse 17 and 18. This is the holy, inerrant, all-sufficient Word of God. James 3, 17.

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. Would you pray with me? Father, we are so delighted to be before your word, to be instructed by the very best testimony of how we ought to live our lives. We're so grateful to be your children to have such good laws, such good ways.

You are so kind. Amen. Please be seated. So we're continuing our series on the church getting near the end of this series the church as You heard from the beginning of this series is the ecclesia. It's the the church is the called out ones and those who have been called out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the Son of God's love and when you come into this kingdom you become a citizen of a new nation, and that nation has laws, different laws that are normal in the world.

You become a citizen of heaven, and the Lord teaches you how to operate in his kingdom, and particularly in his church. And he even can teach you to tame the tongue. It's a very long process, it's a lifelong process, no one has ever completely tamed the tongue. But as our brother pointed out, the Lord can help us tame our tongues. When a person becomes a Christian, my observation is one of the first things that you see is they stop cursing.

They stop cussing and they might limit themselves to only just one or two curse words that day just to get by, but they don't want to do that. They don't wanna take the Lord's name in vain. And as it turns out, these are the easiest things to conquer. It's not that hard to stop cussing. But there's a greater trouble ahead because we've been talking this way our whole life long.

God is very kind to teach us by degrees and this is all part of what God is doing in his church. God is creating a particular culture in his church And that culture is created by the relational commands that are in the Bible. And there are many of them that really speak of the tongue. Now, In our church, if you become a member here, you're going to agree to recite a membership covenant. And we do it all together out loud.

When we do it, we make a covenant with one another. The whole congregation reads, and those who are becoming members read the covenant. And the covenant is something really that we made up. The covenant is really an expression of what scripture teaches. It's basic Christian community.

And in this covenant, we've cited over 60 references to the paragraphs and the actual phrases that exist in this. And so, when we come to this matter of the government of the tongue, we have to realize this is a very very important subject. The Bible says in Proverbs 1821 that life and death is in the power of the tongue. We learn that it's rooted in the moral law of God, particularly in the ninth commandment, not to bear false witness against your neighbor. It has to do with truth and love.

The sins of the tongue unravel happy relationships. The sins of the tongue will send both sinners and saints fleeing from a church where the ravages of gossip and slander have torn it apart and and and and literally pulled it down to the foundations. You know, many years ago, I was speaking with a pastor who was experiencing this and he said as a result, they've decided to preach a sermon on gossip and slander once a year in their church. When Jason and I who were elders at that time heard that we said we're gonna do the same thing. Well we haven't quite kept up the pace but here we are today.

The sins of the tongue can disqualify a widow from support, 1st Timothy 5 13. The sins of the tongue can disqualify a widow from support, 1st Timothy 5 13. The sins of the tongue can disqualify a deacon if his wife is a slanderer, 1st Timothy 3 8 through 11. Proverbs 6 12 says that God hates gossip and slander. And we also know from scripture that the sins of the tongue, literally every idle word will be judged at the final judgment.

And so we have a covenant that helps us to learn how to govern our tongues, or at least to keep us in some sense of Christian sympathy. And I printed them out in the outline that you have there. What I plan to do here this morning is just to go through each phrase, one by one, just to refresh our memory. And you see them there. And first of all, notice that this is a covenant of love.

The entire covenant is a covenant of love. This covenant begins with these words that are not printed there, I don't believe. We will work and pray for the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace and by the aid of the Holy Spirit to walk together in Christian love. That really is the force of every word of the covenant that we take. And it really it's a reflection of A text that I preached on just several weeks ago in this series on the church in Ephesians chapter four, one through six.

I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called with all lowliness and gentleness, with long suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There's one body and one spirit just as you were called in one hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all. This is an expression of the presence of God in the heart of the believer that their greatest desire is to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and that manner of walking is a walking in love. Jesus spoke of this in John 13, 34 when he said, a new commandment I give to you that you love one another as I have loved you.

And he says, by this you will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. That is the great apologetic of the church. And so we have this covenant and there's really no more wonderful culture than the culture of a biblically ordered church. There's no more wonderful culture that you can create than to sanctify the Lord in your hearts to be obedient to him, filled with the spirit of love and joy and peace. And the truth is that the way that people govern their tongues in the church takes the church in a direction.

The words that we say take one another in a direction. We should be very careful how we speak to one another. That's why in James chapter three, the tongue is compared to a rudder. A rudder determines the direction. Your tongue will take you in a direction.

If you have bitter words, it'll take you in the direction of bitterness. And that's the way the world is wired. You can't controvert it. It's just the way it is. Your life actually follows the dispositions of your heart that your mouth speaks.

And that's why James calls the tongue not just a rudder, he calls the tongue a fire. But your words can be like a tree of life. They can be seasoned with salt. They can be like apples of gold in settings of silver, as Solomon said in Proverbs 25, 11. James says it can be a spring of fresh water in James 3 11 There isn't anybody in the room today including myself who doesn't sin with his tongue and this is such a great burden to all of us but to be like David to be like David who recognized the danger of the tongue in Psalm 17 verse 3 I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.

I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress. So I'm just continually overcome with the goodness, the wisdom, the kindness of the Lord in giving us his word. His word is sufficient. His word has given us all we need to know to learn how to talk. And we have to learn how to talk.

And when you become a Christian, you've got to relearn how to talk. And it's a good project for sure. So for the first stanza, the first phrase I want us to just meditate upon in this covenant is this, that we would cultivate Christian sympathy in feeling and courtesy and speech. You notice those words cultivate, that means it's a process, that means nobody's gonna use their tongue perfectly in this church, it isn't gonna happen, somebody's gonna misuse their tongue toward you, I have, you have, and it's going to happen again. So it's something that we have to cultivate and have grace toward one another in the in the sanctification process.

But notice this really has to do with the heart. It has to do with your heart toward your brother. The cultivation of Christian sympathy in feeling. It really has something that's going on in your heart. And the problem with fallen human beings is that we so easily develop a critical spirit.

In our hearts we develop a critical spirit toward one another and that breaks bonds of peace and causes us to avoid one another and and things like that. But it's something that is nurtured. It's like having a garden. Some of you have gardens now. You are weeding your gardens.

The weeds are going berserk, and you need to get out there if you want to continue to have a garden. But the heart is like a garden as well. The weeds have to be pulled and you deal with pests, You have to feed the soil, you have to give it water, and you have to pay attention. You know, that's why the apostle Paul, he said, I have learned to be content. That's the process.

It's something to learn, and we're all learning. There isn't anyone here that is not learning. But you know when people are born of the Spirit, the Lord, he leads his people out of the wilderness of a critical spirit. A critical spirit is a wilderness. It's an unending journey of unhappiness.

And that's why 1 Peter 3, 8, the apostle tells the church, finally all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another. Love as brothers, be tender hearted. Well that's the heart part, And then he says, be courteous. So it comes out in the way that you deal with one another. And then he says, not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling.

You know what that means? Somebody in the church is going to say something evil to you. So grow up. That's the way it is. We shouldn't worry about it so much.

He says he who would love life and see good days let him refrain his tongue from evil. It's the way to have, to love life in good days. Cultivating gracious speech. You know, it occurs to me that often people think that they can talk any way that they want between husband and wife and with their children. You can get around the dinner table and you can say anything you want about anybody you want and somehow the family becomes a slander free zone where you can you could and that's not true.

You can poison your children. You can poison one another. A husband and wife can poison one another on their beds when they're speaking. Husbands and wives have to be careful with one another and let their speech be seasoned with salt as well. The Bible teaches us that there are co-laborers in this matter, the heart and the mouth.

They are co-laborers, they work together. That's why Psalm 19 verse 14, in that great passage about the beauty of the word of God, the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. It ends with these words, let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, oh Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. The words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart are always connected. And part of cultivating a heart of compassion and cultivating Christian sympathy in feeling and courtesy.

Part of it is something really, really important. Ignoring things that people say that are negative about you. Just ignore them. Ecclesiastes 7-21 says, also do not take to heart everything people say lest you hear your servant cursing you. Don't take it to heart.

For many times also your own heart has known that even you have cursed others. So don't obsess about it because you've done the same thing. Repent for your own sins and have mercy and be patient and put on a heart of compassion and be long-suffering and bear with one another and forgive one another. I'm really just quoting the Bible on relational commands for the church. So this first is to cultivate Christian's sympathy and feeling.

That has to do with the heart. Now, secondly, we turn to this matter of strive to avoid all scriptural prohibitions such as tattling, backbiting, and unrighteous anger. So these are prohibitions. Now there there are only a few mentioned here. There are lots of prohibitions in the use of the tongue But the Bible the Bible not only tells you how to speak with grace in your heart Giving thanks to the Lord, but he also tells you how not to speak.

There are do's and don'ts, and all the don'ts are good. They're just as good as the do's. And, you know, Psalm 15, The psalmist tells us how serious this is. Lord, who may abide in your tabernacle, who may dwell in your holy hill? He who walks uprightly and works righteousness and speaks truth in his heart.

He who does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor does he take up a reproach against his friend. This matter of backbiting and tattling is very serious. In Romans one 28 through 32, there's a long list of harmful, sinful behavior, sexual immorality, wickedness, maliciousness, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness. And right there in the middle of the list is something that we don't think is so heinous. It's actually an acceptable sin.

It's a socially acceptable sin. Whispers, back biters. And right after back biters is haters of God. Violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things. So many of those things have to do with the government of the tongue.

And how do you, how should a person in the church when they're hearing a gossip respond? What should they do? What's the procedure? The procedure is in Proverbs 25 23. The north wind brings forth rain and a backbiting tongue and angry countenance.

The way that you deal with someone that is speaking a slanderous or a backbiting word is to meet it with an angry countenance. Say stop it. We don't do this around here. Have you gone to the person that you're talking about? Go directly to them.

And if you can't resolve it, then bring somebody with you. And go to that person. But the moment you tell another person is the moment of sin The moment you listen to that person is also the moment of sin. Meet it with an angry countenance. There are lots of prohibitions.

There is the prohibition toward busy bodies. You know what a busy body is? This is one of the most common prohibitions in the New Testament. And it's actually one of the things that causes people tremendous problems. That's why in 1 Peter chapter four, he makes it very clear that busy bodies actually end up suffering.

People suffer as busy bodies. It doesn't go very well with busybodies. There's a blow up in the making with a busybody. 1 Peter 4, 17, but let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people's matters. Busybodies suffer.

Now, the biblical term for busy body is actually a two-part word. It's one word with two parts to it. And the first part means really not yours, something that's not your own, something that's not your business. And the second word is actually the word episkopos, which speaks of oversight. Not yours to take oversight of.

In other words, not your jurisdiction. A busybody is someone who's overreaching other people's biblical jurisdictions. And it's a person who wants to take authority over your life that doesn't really have authority over your life. And it's the sin of being too nosy and meddling in other people's business that you do not have authority over. Now in my experience over many many years of being in the church, this is this is a sin not exclusively but it's typically performed by women who have passionate thoughts about their lives.

They want to be holy typically, and they may want everyone to live just like they do. And so they find themselves doing things that are not their episkopos. They're speaking to things that are not their authority, their jurisdiction. You know what, episkopos is that word for elder, for pastor, one who has authority. And so you have well-meaning people.

It's typically, I think, women telling other women how to dress, telling other women how to homeschool their children, when in fact these women have fathers and they have husbands. They actually have authorities. And while it's a good thing for us to talk about really critical, practical matters of our lives and to speak from the heart about them and to share what good things we might have discovered. It's a good thing to do that. But many of these things actually fall under the jurisdiction of the family and someone who has authority.

You know, fathers and mothers have authority over their children and how they're educated and how they dress and all kinds of things like that. So it's very important that we understand this doctrine of jurisdiction when we think about the use of the tongue. Now there's a way, there are many ways that church members can help one another, shepherd one another, teach one another on matters like this. But there's a way, there's just a way that you do that. You develop a relationship with them, you have compassion toward them, you have to verify that.

You're careful, you're patient. You know, this whole matter of being long suffering that pops up in the relational commands quite regularly in the New Testament, to be patient with one another. Loving relationships is how this kind of thing happens. And it's how you keep out of suffering for being a busybody, because busybodies end up getting, they suffer, because they're poking their nose in a wrong way. Typically it's a wrong way into somebody else's business.

And then thirdly, not only to refrain, to avoid scriptural prohibitions, but to refrain from speaking evil of one another. Ephesians 4 is such a classic place to go to understand how to live life in the church, but Ephesians 4.29, let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth But what is good for necessary edification that it may impart grace to the hearers and Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you are sealed for the day of redemption So you have these wonderful directions, you know, don't speak corrupt words, but only what is good. Impart grace and be filled with the Holy Spirit. The church always needs instruction for how to talk, but the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit is the primary driver of the ship guided by a rudder called the tongue. He says, and be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

Now if there is someone who is sinning, then you go to your brother and tell him his fault. That's how you do it. So I've been in church life for over 50 years, very intimately involved in church life since I was in my teens. And it's a legendary that so much of the gossip and slanger and negative speaking, it's described as, well, I was just looking for a sounding board. I was really just asking for prayer.

These are disguises for actually veering away from the commands of God in dealing with sin in the church, which we ought to do. When we see our brother sinning, it's legitimate to go to him. I was rereading this week a section of Charles Spurgeon's book, Lectures to My Students. He has this delightfully hilarious section on the government of the tongue. Let me read.

Every church and for that matter, every village and family is plagued with certain Mrs. Grundy's who drink tea and talk vitriol. They are never quiet but buzz around to the great annoyance of those who are devout and practical. No one needs to look far for perpetual motion. He has only to watch their tongues at tea meetings, Dorcas meetings, and other gatherings.

They practice vivisection upon the characters of their neighbors. And of course, they are eager to try their knives upon the minister, the minister's wife, the minister's children, the minister's wife's bonnet, the dress of the minister's daughter, and how many new ribbons she has worn in the last six months, and so ad infinitum. There are also certain persons who are never so happy when they are, quote, grieved to the heart. To have to tell the minister that Mr. A is a snake in the grass and that he is quite mistaken in thinking that so well of Mr's B and C and that they have heard quite promiscuously that Mr.

D and his wife are badly matched. Then follows a long string about Mrs. E, who says that she and Mrs. F, overheard Mrs. G, say to Mrs.

H, that Mrs. J should say that Mr. K and Mrs. L were going to move from the chapel and hear Mr. M all because of what old N said to young O about Ms.

P. He concludes, never listen to such people. He writes this, remember that as the receiver is as bad as the thief, so the hearer of scandal is a sharer in the guilt of it. If there were no listening ears, there would be no tail bearing tongues. Lectures to my students, Charles Purson.

Well, You can't stop people's tongues except with an angry countenance, but you can stop your ears. That's how you cultivate Christian sympathy. Isn't it great what God wants to do in his church. It's so good. Fourth, number four, be slow to take an offense.

Be slow to take an offense. You could wipe out nearly 98.9% of all church problems if people just were slow to take an offense. 1st Corinthians 13 for love suffers long and is kind, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Again if you would love life and see good days, keep your tongue from evil. Be hard to offend.

I'll say it again. Be really hard to offend. There's a certain kind of thick skin that is good. Skin can be too thick, but there's a good kind of thick skin. It's this kind of thick skin right here.

Don't be too offended, don't meditate on everything that people say that was offensive to you. Brush off your offenses, ignore them, and memorize that great and towering text, First Scott 1-9. First Scott 1-9. If your feelings stay hurt. It's your own fault.

I read a piece by a man, he entitled it, Anatomy of a Conflict. He was talking about a trajectory. I thought it was insightful, I've seen it before. Seen it many times. I'm sure I'll see it again.

I don't wanna see it again. Step one, an offense occurs. Step two, a biased view of the offense, a biased view of the offense is shared with friends. Step three, friends take up the offense. Step four, sides begin to form.

Step five, suspicion on both sides develop. Step six, each side looks for evidence to confirm the suspicion, and you'll be sure they can find it. Step seven, exaggerated statements are made. Step eight, in the heat of the conflict, those involved hear things that were never said and say things they wish they had never said. Step nine, third parties, no matter how well intentioned, can never accurately transfer information from one offended party to another.

Step 10, past offenses unrelated to the original offense surface. Step 11, integrity is challenged. Step 12, people call each other liars. Step 13, Those who try to solve the problem ie church leadership are blamed for not following the proper procedure and become the new focus Step 14 many are hurt ever seen that It can happen. That's why Titus 3 10 Titus Has these remarkable words rejected divisive man after the first and second admonition, knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned.

Solomon said that where there's no wood, the fire goes out. Where there's no tail bearer, the strife ceases. That's true. Maybe you've been in a church where a tail bearer, a slanderer left and man, happiness like flowed back into that church. I've seen it more than one time.

The problem with the fences is that They grow underwater and you don't see the ripples until time has passed. And then a tidal wave breaks over everybody. And it's really no fun. Solomon tells us in Proverbs 28, 25 that, he who is proud of heart stirs up strife, but he who trusts in the Lord will be prospered. Remarkable.

Fifth, Think the best of one another. Think the best, this is another one. This is a one, you know, I've got a list of, you know, if this happened, you know, 99.9% of all church problems would disappear, here's another one. You do the math. To think the best of one another oh She looked at me.

She passed me by He didn't say hello to me. You know the look on his face just was He must hate me Think the best of one another Think the best love suffers long and is and is kind The key phrase in this text in 1st Corinthians 13 which identifies what love looks like is thinks no evil. In other words, love doesn't think evil of everything that happens, love thinks the best. Love puts the best light on it. Isaiah talks about the humble and the joyful and also the harsh.

And those are the ones who make a man an offender by a word. Just one word. I mean, this is particularly dangerous for people like me who use a lot of words. It's easy to make an offender out of me. I mean, on any given Sunday, I'm gonna use a wrong word or something.

I'm not gonna frame something just exactly as it could have been framed, you know, by the wisest of the wise. I might even say something dumb, you know, I might. It happens, you know. God says in Psalm 101, 5, "'Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly, I will destroy. Oh boy.

So the tongue is either a fire or it's a fruit tree. You know, words, you know, some of you are marksmen, words are a little bit like firing a gun. Once you pull that trigger, you cannot get that bullet back. It's gonna go where it's gonna go. It's like hitting send prematurely in an email.

Oh, you just can't get it back. There's this folk tale. I've heard different versions of it over the years. And I've, quite some time ago, I think I just told a different version, but I'll tell you a little bit different version of the same idea. There was a young man who went all over town slandering the wisest man in the town.

And one day he was feeling guilty, so he went to the wise man's home and he said, would you forgive me, I have been slandering you. I'm so sorry. And the wise man said, of course, of course I'll forgive you on one condition. Take this pillow, this fellow, this feather pillow, and on your way home drop the feathers along the way. Cut the pillow and drop the feathers as you go back home.

So he did that. He cut the feathers and went home. He had satisfied his obligation of forgiveness. And then he returned to the wise man's home and he says, I did it, am I now forgiven? And the wise man said, just one more thing, Go gather, go and gather the feathers that you dropped.

And the young man said, that's impossible. The wind has blown them all over the place. I'll never be able to find them. That's the problem. Once the bullet leaves the chamber, It's out there.

And we can almost permanently harm other people's opinion of one another. If you slander someone, they'll never be the same. That person will never be the same again. The Proverbs says that slander goes down to the innermost being. It just floats down into your soul.

And it's gonna affect you for the rest of your life, one way or another. Number six. Be slow to take, or think the best of one another now. Always be ready for biblical reconciliation and mindful of the rules of our Savior to secure it without delay so far as it depends on us. Matthew 18 verse 21, I'll just read the text that tells us how to do it, how to seek reconciliation.

You have heard that it was said to those of old you shall not murder and whoever murders will be in the danger of judgment But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause Shall be in danger of the judgment and whoever says to his brother Raka shall be in danger of the council, but whoever says you fool shall be in danger of hellfire. Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift. Agree with your adversary quickly while you are on the way with him lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. So this has to do with going personally to someone who's offended you.

And God provides a way for reconciliation. It's God's will that there's nothing hanging in between the brethren. There are no barriers. People are not avoiding one another. It's God's will to bring people together in unity and love and tenderness and compassion and long-suffering.

That's God's will. But the assumption of this passage and so many passages in the New Testament is that there are going to be offenses. People are going to offend one another. And that's why there are so many commands that cover every manifestation of a broken relationship. And Matthew 18 teaches you, if you can't get over it, then you have to get after it.

That's what Matthew 18 teaches. Now you may be able to cover over that sin and just walk away from it and not worry about it for the rest of your life. Praise God if you're that kind of a person. But if you can't get over it, you gotta get after it. And don't let it hang.

And don't let there be barriers hanging between you and other people in the church. No avoiding one another. Is anybody here avoiding anybody here? Don't raise your hand. How many times do you have to forgive?

More than seven, says Jesus. Actually, an infinite number. So the Lord is so good. Here's just some final advice for all of us, myself included. Prepare your heart to speak the words of life in your home and in your church.

Finally brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are right, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there's any virtue and if there's anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things. Here's another one. You can't lose if you speak the word of God most of the time unless you do it bitterly. Psalm 19, 1 19, 172. My tongue shall speak of your word, for all of your commandments are righteousness.

Have the word of God on your lips. Fill your heart with the word of God, first thing in the morning, don't miss it. Get the word of God in your soul and let it come out all day long. Here's another. Speak to build up.

Speak to build up. Ephesians 429, let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth but what is good for necessary edification. That's building up. Speak to build up that it might impart grace to the hearers. Speak for the health of the other person.

Proverbs 12, 18, but the tongue of the wise promotes health. Talk of the praises of the Lord. Psalm 35 28, my tongue shall speak of your righteousness and of your praise all day long. How about that for a life? Guard your tongue.

Guard your tongue. Proverbs 21, 23. Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles. Feel your heart with kindness. Proverbs 31, 26.

This is the Proverbs 31 woman. She opens her mouth with wisdom and on her tongue is the law of kindness. What a mom. What a wife. Filled with the law of kindness.

Okay, so there you have it, there's the church covenant. It's a great covenant. I hope you're able to take it. And I hope you're able to have patience with those who take it and who falter in it. First, cultivate Christian sympathy and feeling in courtesy of speech.

Second, strive to avoid all scriptural prohibitions such as tattling, backbiting, and unrighteous anger. Third, refrain from speaking evil of one another. Fourth, be slow to take an offense. Fifth, to think the best of one another. And sixth, to always be ready for biblical reconciliation and mindful of the rules of our Savior to secure it without delay so far as it depends on us.

So if you want to love life and see good days, Guard your tongue from evil. Let's pray. Oh Lord, you have given us the very best words to guide us in this church. I pray that you would form this kind of culture that we've so hoped for, prayed for, and covenanted with one another to have. That it would be so clear to all of us that we would with all of our hearts with joy in our hearts and thankfulness for your spirit to fulfill it the way that you designed it.

Amen.