Traveling In Japan: Biblical Lessons On Silence, Speaking, & Emotional Control

Today, I bring you a Radiating Faith sermon inspired by my time in Japan and one of the biggest cultural differences I have noticed: quietness. With my fiancée Camille helping facilitate the conversation, I use that experience as a doorway into Scripture to explore what the Bible teaches about speech, silence, discernment, and self-control. This episode is not about pretending that silence is always holy or that speaking is always wrong. It is about learning that there is a time to be silent and a time to speak, and that godly wisdom helps us know the difference.

In this sermon, I walk through key passages from Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Psalms, James, and Ephesians to examine how the tongue can either build people up or tear them down. I talk about how many words can lead to sin, how a gentle answer can turn away wrath, and how the tongue has the power of life and death. I also explain why guarding our mouths is not the same as being mute, but instead means speaking with intention, humility, and awareness of consequences.

I also apply this message to real life in relationships, arguments, online behavior, podcasting, public discourse, and everyday conversation. Camille and I discuss how familiarity can make people careless with the ones they love most, why modern culture often rewards emotional outbursts instead of patient listening, and why Christians need to become better at cross-cultural communication, conflict resolution, and self-control. I connect that to the Great Commission and the need for believers to engage people with truth, calmness, and conviction instead of noise, hostility, or reactionary speech.

This episode is ultimately a call to reflect on how I use my words and how you use yours. Whether it is on a stage, on social media, in prayer, in marriage, or in ordinary conversation, speech matters. I close by encouraging listeners to lean on the Holy Spirit, prayer, fasting, and Scripture so that our words become a source of life, blessing, and godly influence rather than harm, confusion, and regret.

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Transcript

 Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to Radiating Faith, the Ministry Subseries on the Couple O' Nukes podcast, where I preach solo sermons, review scripture, and go over other faith based and faith related materials. Today's episode is inspired by my current journeys across Japan. It is my second time in this country and it is.

A different culture than America in many ways. And today's sermon draws from one of those differences. I am here with my lovely fiance, Camille, and she's going to be helping facilitate this sermon. And Camille, what would you say so far in an honest review about your time in Japan as far as some of the cultural differences that you have noticed and experienced?

It's been a good experience so far. The most notable thing is how quiet it's been compared to in America. Just walking out in the streets and the restaurants. Everyone seems to be keeping to themselves and yeah, it's generally like the, the vibe here is just quieter and more peaceful it seems like.

For sure. I think I like it and I don't like it. I suppose what really irked me last year, and I've kind of gotten used to it this year, is being quiet in a restaurant. For me, a restaurant is not just about food. Here, the restaurant is more about food, like get your food and go eat your meal and go. It's a lot of people who are by themselves on their phone.

A lot of their restaurants are set up for people to sit by themselves. Mostly business people on the way home from work are going somewhere on a commute, especially in the train stations and near those areas. But for me, a restaurant is a social experience. It is a place where people go to have comradery, to have loud laughter and stories within a respectful.

You know, radius and deaf of course. But that has been the biggest adjustment for me. And you'll find that like the loudest restaurants that we've been to actually have been the ones that were more Americanized or near more tourist destinations. So I think that's really something different for me. But as you mentioned, it is very quiet, just outside walking around, there's not a lot of howdy and Hey, how you doing?

And you know, stuff like that. Not a lot of. Confrontation, which is nice too. You don't see a lot of street beefs. I know just walking around Savannah, Georgia, I've seen people pin someone against a wall, be like, where's my money at? You know, like we've seen stuff like that and there's a lot of confrontation and just a, a loud culture in general.

You and I even went to a park yesterday and even. Probably 50 young children at the playground. It was still very quiet. And so that is the inspiration for today's sermon. See, the Bible calls us not to silence and to muteness, but to self-control, to measure, to understanding. There is a time and a place to speak.

And I think that's really important. You know, I believe that based on a lot of studies we've seen, language is really important. In fact. What I've come across interviewing guests on the show is that the more access to language there is, the greater emotional control an individual has. This was especially seen in children who if children only knew extremely pissed off and happy, then they couldn't express their emotions to the full range as if they knew words such as, I'm frustrated, or I'm agitated, or I'm annoyed, or I'm not.

Resentful, but I am not understanding like the more language you have to express your emotions, the better you can express them. So language is really important. It is the use of that language that is what is being told here in the Bible to be measured. We're gonna be drawing mainly from Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, along with other parts of the Bible.

Now, Camille, are you ready to get into this? So I'm gonna have you start us off with Proverbs 10 19. When words are many, sin is not absent, but whoever restraints his lips is prudent. And this goes exactly into what we were talking about, which is control. Again, it's talking about many words, and that's not knowing many words.

It's using many words and talks about sin is not absent, and that is because. The more you talk, the more likely there is a chance for you to sin. And that's not to say never talk, therefore you'll never sin. We know that sin is also present in our actions and in many times our unspoken thoughts and words, and it's about what we do, but controlled speech is very important.

And one thing I want to make clear too. Is that, you know, the use of language is so important, as I've mentioned, but I wanna talk about, this isn't about silence and this is about control. And one thing we see is that like in this society, like obviously there's a lot of thoughts that are the same as American thoughts, but they're not expressed the same.

And one thing I wanna focus on as well is that. Time and language are kind of proportional in the sense that when you initially react to something, a lot of words come to mind. You have a lot of things you want to say, and that's why they say everyone has a different guideline. Some people it's 30 days after an incident.

Some people it's five days. Some people it's a few hours. We all have different cool down times, but that is why they talk about cooling down before you say anything or sleeping on something before you say anything. Because your initial reaction generates a lot of words. And yes, conflict should be resolved as soon as possible, but there is a period where there is just a generation of so many words and things that shouldn't be said or that could be said, but shouldn't be said because they are very emotionally charged.

And Camille, do you have any thoughts on that? No, I think that's true, that when people get in a really emotional state what they're saying is very exaggerated and it's far from reality or it's hard to look at things logically and people often just wanna lash out and say things that they don't mean.

Right. And it, it's not easy. It takes time and practice. I know this is something I actually personally struggle with a lot more, which is I call the knee jerk reaction something a lot of people deal with. And that's because, you know, you do have such a rush of emotions when certain things happen.

And I do think. That is important. And I wanna move into Proverbs 13, three, which says that those who guard their lips, preserve their lives, but those who speak rationally will come to ruin. And this goes hand in hand with what we're saying, or rather, lip in lip, tooth and tooth. Mouth. Mouth, so to speak, no pun intended.

You know, because it talks about guarding your lips and guarding in silence are two different things. Again, this is. Knowing the time and place and guarding. I think that also means having a mindset of knowing the reaction or the consequences of your words. You know, that's why they say choose your words wisely, right?

This can be when you're in court. This can be when you're in a marital disagreement. This can be friendships. This can be a conflict with the church. There are many times to guard your lips, which is, you know, saying, be aware of what you are saying. Or what you are not saying and the impact of that. Right?

And this has the word rashly. We know rashly is there for a specific reason, which is to emphasize the hastiness of the speaking and the emotional charge of it, right? It doesn't say, but those who speak will come to ruin. It says those who speak rashly. So it's important to know about this, right? Guarding your mouth is a form of guarding your life, right?

When you are watching what you're saying, you're weighing the consequences and therefore looking at how that will impact your life. And I think that's important, you know, and I'd love for you to take us into the next one, which is Proverbs 15, one, A gentle answer, turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Now this is one that has been a part of my life, unfortunately, because people have said you are just being how do I say, you need to be a deescalation instead of a returner or defensive or instigator, which is a lot of times during conflict. People want to give back the same energy they're receiving.

So if someone is being angry and loud, now they're gonna get angry and loud. But what we see here is that is only going to lead to the increased escalation of the matter that a harsh word is gonna stir up anger. But when you stay calm and cool and collected, grounded in truth and gentleness. It does help calm the other person down.

Now if it comes off a certain way, it can't aggravate them more, but in general, when you are being anchored in truth and gentleness and seeking toward that piece, it can have a much greater effect. Of course, like I said, you have to make sure you're coming off the right way because. You can come off as ignoring or not being attentive to the matter or not caring as much.

And so it's the expression of that care and that attentiveness and respect that is so vital. What do you think about that? Mm, yeah. I think it's important to ha to realize what you value more, either like defending your own opinion or your perspective. Or if you value the relationship more or calming down the situation just thinking about your reactions to that.

Right. And throughout this we'll be getting into how the tongue has the power of life and death, and one such case of that is Proverbs 15, four, which says. The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit. And so we see the tongue is the same, right? It's, it's a single, I don't know, it's a muscle, not a organ technically, but you know, it's a single part of us and it represents not just the physical capability, but the tongue represents, you know, speaking here.

And we have two different adjectives, right? We have soothing and perverse, so we know that the tongue is capable of being many different things, and in one, we have a tree of life, which represents, you know, blessing. You could be a blessing on someone's life, right? Tree of life means you are providing, you're nurturing, you are there for some of 'em, and crushing the spirit.

Well, that's pretty self-explanatory. This can be. What we see a lot of, unfortunately, cyber bullying, bullying, hate speech, you know, degrading someone, belittling someone speaking, not in alignment with the faith. And it really shows the dual nature. And I think what's so important here is we have power over our tongue.

Although our tongue has power over life and death, and ultimately our lives, we are the guider of it. And so we choose whether our tongue is a, a soothing one or a perverse one, and. And then this goes well into in Blame the rappers by Tom McDonald and Dax. You know, Dax talks about making music is a privilege and a choice.

You know, some, some destroy and some give life, and paraphrasing the lyrics there, but he talks about like, music is part of what the tongue creates. And people say, oh, rap is evil. Rap promotes this and that. Rap is a genre. Rap is a style of the tongue and people choose whether it is a, a soothing tongue or a perverse tongue.

And unfortunately we see a lot of people make it a perverse tongue. One that sexualizes and demonizes beauty, one that promotes, you know, things that are violent and hateful, but we see plenty of rap that glorify God that is about mental health recovery and hope. So, you know, the tongue. Is not just about speaking, it's about singing and music and writing and all these places we have an impact from podcasting to social media clips to just our conversations as parents and mentors, you know, even to how we deliver the message of the word.

And what would you say on that? Nothing to add. Mm.

Then we can move on to Proverbs 17 verses 27 through 28, and I'll let you read those. The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint and whoever has understanding is even tempered. Even fools who are thought wise, if they keep silent and discerning, if they hold their tongues. Yeah, so I, I like that.

Use words with restraint, right? It doesn't say use no words. It talks about restraint. You know, everything you can say or what you could say to deliver it more harshly. But you're gonna restrain your words because, you know, that's what it says, the one who has knowledge. Right. And I think what it speaks to is, is not just intelligence in the matter of knowing words, but if it really self-awareness and emotional impact, what your words will affect when it comes to that person or you or the situation.

And whoever has understanding is even tempered, you know? Again, going back to how your emotions affect your own language in words and even fools are thought wise that they keep silent and discerning if they hold their tongues. And that goes back to, you know, that's not to say that people who, when it talks about fools right, you, you gotta look at the original language of the Bible.

A fool is not just like an idiot or a goofball here. A fool is a more immoral person. It is a morally lacking or failing person, you know, that's why continually talks about fools. It means spiritually, right? And e, even fools are thought wise. Is it? They keep silent and discerning if they hold their tongues.

Again, this talks about. What you're going to say serves no benefit. If it is only to hurt or to condemn or to kill and it's not alignment with the faith, then it's better to be silent. You know? And that means even, even fools are thought wise, if they keep silent, discerning, if they hold their tongue. So even people who are morally flawed, if they have that emotional understanding, that self-awareness, and it can look at the impact of their words, then they are.

Wise, they are discerning, you know, and these are people who normally aren't. And it shows that there is wisdom in quietness. You know, quietness isn't a lack of knowledge or stupidity or you know, not caring. It is. There is a wisdom to it. And then we'll get to Proverbs 1821, which I already referenced earlier.

It is one of the most known passages of scripture. Would you read that for us, Camille? The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. So what do you think on that? Mm, I guess whatever you say, whatever message you put out, the right people will find it or whoever needs to hear it.

We will take what you say and apply it to their lives, or actually give it some thought instead of just letting what you say pass right by. Well, and the most important part here is those who love it will eat its fruit. If you look at the love of the tongue of death, right? You will eat is fruit. And what this means is people who use their tongue for death, which is that condemnation talk, which is that, and this isn't condemnation like you're living in sin.

This is just hate and bullying, sexism, racism. And you know, all this evil talk will eat its fruit. Well, what is this fruit? Well, we know that the fruit produced by a tongue of death. Is sin is living in sin is not repenting and is dealing with the consequences of that sin. So when it talks about we'll eat its fruit, we know that if you are living with a tongue of death, there are consequences for that and you're going to eat of that fruit, which means you're going to experience those consequences.

If you look at it on the positive side, if you love a tongue that has the power of life. Then the fruit is a good fruit. It is a fruit of, you know, blessing and helping others. Living in alignment with the word and being a blessed in return, not because of your good actions, but because when we live in alignment with God's will and his word, that we live the most prosperous life that God has planned for us.

And so I think that's, I love that part. Those who love it will eat its fruit. Ultimately, we have decision over which fruit that is, but the emphasis here is really on the. The The power of death, the tongue of death, because people are more obsessed with that than the power of life, unfortunately. And it's up to us who are doing the good mission to try and put out good information and word.

And one thing I have found is it is more efficient for us. And this wasn't my idea, actually. It was a guest on my show, really opened my eyes. I was complaining about all the misinformation online, all the hate, and combining what he said with this proverb right here. Proverbs 1821, I would say we can't go and cut out the tongues of death from every person, but we can have a tongue of life.

See, we can't go out there and erase all the misinformation or constantly combat it. What we can do is put out right information, spread it, promote it, and try to. Do what we can with it. So rather than trying to get rid of the tongues of death that are in this world, use your tongue of life to spread the good word, and to hopefully inspire other people to choose life with their tongues and with what they do.

What do you think about that? That was good. And then we've got, what do you read for us? Proverbs 2123. Very similar to one we read earlier. Those who guard their mouths and their tongues keep themselves from calamity, right? And again, guarding your mouth and your and your tongue. And again, that calamity being the consequences of what you say, consequences physically, spiritually, emotionally, relationally, within your community, your family, your friends, or whatever it is in your life.

And then I love Ecclesiastes again. It's one of my favorite passages of scripture, one of my favorite, you know, parts of the Bible that I, I share from all the time. And this says it right here in Ecclesiastes, chapter three verse seven. A time to tear in a time to mend, a time to be silent, and a time to speak.

This is, again, going back to the very beginning when we opened this up. The Bible is not about silence. It is about the right time and the right place, and that is so important. I mean, we talk about this all the time. I recently just spoken episode coming out tomorrow. About how there is a time and place for everything.

Jesus was angry and spoke angrily at certain times. Jesus was weeping and spoke sorrowfully at times. Jesus was leading and positive at times, right, and he showed us that there is a time and place for everything when it comes to speaking and expressing our emotions. And as you continue to, I know a lot of y'all might be like, well, how do we know what the right time and place is?

Lean on the Holy Spirit and continually study the word and you will find the guidance for when it is that time and place to speak. And now we'll move into Ecclesiastes chapter five verses one through two. Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Do not be quick with your mouth. Do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God.

God is in heaven and you are on earth. So let your words be few. And this is just about humility and reverence in acknowledging God. And one thing too is you know Jesus Christ. Stephen has talked about. Not rambling on when you pray to make a big scene or to use many words, but to respect and acknowledge God in God's time, even though God exists outta time.

But that reverence, and also knowing his understanding of your words, and I think this is really important, you know, it's about that humility, especially before. God. And I think with even, even people as well, you know, how we use our words is a huge reflection of our respect for them and of them. And then going on to Ecclesiastes chapter five verse three,

A dream comes when there are, when there are many cares and many words. Mark the speech of a fool. Again, this is just further emphasis of scripture connecting, you know, excessive speech with that of a fool. Again, one who is morally flawed or immoral, you know, again, is talking about how excessive speech can be foolish spiritually.

Again, a place for sin to occur or. Where thought is not happening as fast as the words, therefore the consequences aren't weighed and things are said that shouldn't be. And Ecclesiastes chapter five, verses six through seven, this is really important, again, talking about sin. Do not let your mouth lead you into sin.

Much dreaming, in many words, are meaningless. Therefore, fear God. And I think a good practice is, you know, they talk about doing things as if for Christ. So when you're speaking. How would you speak to God on this matter? How would you speak to Christ on this matter and let that be a guidance for your speaking?

We let familiarity with someone take away our ability to, you know, weigh the consequences of our words. We allow it to take away our respect, and I think the fear of God is important, you know, and watching our speech and not letting our mouth lead us into sin, you know, that is one of the. Downfalls of free will is that we can choose how we speak and sometimes we let us be led into sin by our own mouth.

And then there's a few other that we can get into, including Psalm 1 41, verse three, set a guard over my mouth. Lord, keep watch over the door of my lips. I think this is a really important one. Because we know that we're supposed to guard our mouth, right? We just read a bunch from Proverbs and Ecclesiastes that speaks to that.

But when we struggle with that, where do we turn to? What do we do? Well here we're saying set a guard over my mouth. Lord, keep watch over the door of my lips. I think this is great, you know, as a prayer for application. You know, like how do we apply this to our life? Or how do we get help for this? And that is ask God, you know, ask God for help for.

A couple of different things that will help you with your speech, which is patience being the greatest one. Give me patience, give me a greater understanding of the impact of my words, of this situation, of the emotional and spiritual consequences. What do you think, Camille? Hmm?

Nothing to add. Are you weighing your words carefully as in accordance to scripture? Sure. Oh yeah. When you say, let the Lord keep a guard over your mouth and to guide your words, I think that just means speaking with intention. And I liked what you said earlier about. How we often get lost in familiarity and how a lot of what comes out of our mouth is just like habit of speech or the people that you're speaking to, maybe you, you're so used to them, you take them for granted or they are just so familiar that the words that you say to them they lack substance.

Or you use your words carelessly when you talk to them and it's not how, it's not an accurate representation of how much they mean to you or how important that relationship is. I agree. That's kind of what I was leaning into was just thinking about even relationships in my life, how. I think especially when it comes to marital or romantic relationships, like you don't you, when I feel like how you argue with your spouse in the very beginning of your relationship versus later on does change.

Unfortunately, you know, like, like you, if you were arguing, well, maybe not everyone, but I feel like if you were arguing with your spouse. Compared to like if it was the first date with them. Like you're so quick to wanna maintain the peace and have good conflict resolution because you're focused on that desire.

Outcome of, I don't want this person to leave. And you know, we're still getting to know each other. But then later on, I guess people get lenient or complacent in the security of, oh, you know, it's my wife or my husband. They wouldn't leave me even if I. You know, talk to them this way. And therefore they, they argue on a more harsher level.

Some relationships are the opposite, where as they continue to get to know one another, they learn how to talk to one another in the ways that they, they need to. But I think when I, I was talking about getting lost in familiarity, part of that was like, I don't wanna say you lose respect for that person, but you don't hold.

That same standard of respectful professionalism sometimes when it comes to arguing, and I guess there is more forgiveness for that kind of conduct. I think, you know, a first date forgiveness versus we've been married for 10 years. The forgiveness of that is different and I don't think that's something that should be taken for granted or relied on, but I think it's something that often is, if that makes sense.

Yeah. And I think it is really disappointing because if you think about it, you should be giving like the best version of yourself to the people who you are closest to and who stay with you. Like you said, that politeness, that professionalism, that respect, it's sometimes it's even more reserved for strangers or people who actually don't know you at all, but the people who are closest to you, they, they get to see the, the raw version of you and they've witnessed the worst parts of you.

So. I think everyone should be more mindful to, I guess, yeah, watch their words and treat the people closest to you with more respect and intention. Right, and this ties directly into James chapter one, verse 19. Most of us had have heard this one. Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.

And this is part of what love is in accordance to the Bible. And I think this is really important, the quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. I think this is more important now than ever before with the. The, we call it the polarization of the moral landscape, the political landscape, the social landscape of America, and across the globe we see a lot of emotional outbursts and people running away from conversations instead of staying grounded and listening and being quick to listen and slow to speak.

Instead, it's kind of like we see people say, okay, you think this way? I'm not even gonna investigate. I'm just gonna leave. And there are certain moral boundaries that you should have where you do not engage to a degree. But I think part of conversion, like a lot of Christians or anyone of the faith, they wanna stay in this little bubble of other believers.

That is not the great commission, a great commission from, from the cross to the discipleship. Is going out to the people who are different from us and having conversations with them. This quote right here, everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slowly become angry. This is like one of the foundational keys of being a good disciple and evangelizing because you cannot have cross-cultural communication, whether that is to a different religion or just a different moral standard or a different societal construct if you are not quick to listen and slow to speak.

And I think a lot of people don't want to go talk to Muslims. They don't want to go talk to Buddhists. They don't wanna talk to people who are far left or different than what would be in alignment with the Bible because they just want to quickly judge, talk over them, get angry and argue. And we've seen, like even with the assassination of Charlie Kirk, what we've seen is the ability to just have conversations are being.

Reduced into violent acts. Now, an assassination is a very big example, a very prominent you know, dramatic example. Yeah. Although it is real and truth. But even just like we've seen so many people at fast food restaurants, at college, campus debates on podcasts, wherever it is, storm off angrily or just walk away.

Or make a big scene. We've seen people detracting from the point of the conversation by deflecting to something else or by making fun of the person they're debating, rather than focusing on the conversation itself. And so this quote is pivotal to our society right now, more than ever before, at least in my opinion.

What, what do you think Amil? No, I agree. I think it's what you were saying earlier about that knee jerk reaction, people. I don't even wanna listen to other opinions. They're just so focused on defending their perspective and their opinions. I agree. You know, and we need more open-mindedness. And I mean it differently than how a lot of people are saying to be open-minded.

And in saying that Christianity is evil and close-minded and boxing it off as something which isn't open-minded at all. And I think that we need more people. To listen and speak. And unfortunately we see a lot of people just being cut off or censored or whatever it may be. And one thing that I guess is really nice about the podcasting platform is that you can have those conversations in that environment.

And I mean, I guess you can still walk away and stuff, but podcasting is allowing these conversations to be had. And available for a lot more people. So I think that's really important that we, we have this, you know, platform along with the in-person debate tables or debate clubs or, you know, other spaces where people can have these conversations.

And it's really important too, for, for families. We have a lot of divided families now, and a lot of it is just okay. You know, this aunt or uncle feels this way, or this grandparent feels this way, we're just not gonna talk to them ever again. Instead of trying to come to a resolution. And sometimes you can't, you can't always come to a resolution, but I think a lot of people are just jumping the gun to, let's just cut them off.

Let's block their phone number. Or let's not answer their calls. Let's just not invite them for Thanksgiving anymore. We need more communication and less just. Coldness blocking this ghost ness. You know, all this stuff that technology has made even more viable for people. And following that, James chapter three, verse five through 10, the tongue is small, but it makes great boasts.

It can bless God and curse people. I really love this quote of scripture right here because it provides such a clear example. It can bless God and curse people. Or it doesn't say here, but we could say it could curse God. You know? That's what our, our tongue is capable of. It could, it could bless people.

The tongue is small, but it makes great blows and it shows like it's true. Like the tongue itself is physically small but it has such great power, power to the side of life and power to the side of death, you know, as much as blessing or cursing God, blessing or cursing people. So I love, like that shows a clear example of what it can do.

And what it should do is bless God, and what it should do is bless people, you know by compliments, by acts of service, through what you can offer through speech. Making an impact highlighting great causes is speaking friendly with one another. One thing that I always talk about is how being on a cruise is, it's almost like you're living in like a, a, a perfect movie.

Because everyone is so friendly. You could, I mean, I'm sure there's a couple grouchy people on a cruise, but almost every cruise I've been on, you can start a conversation with anyone and they're in such a good mood 'cause they're on vacation. They'll talk to you, Hey, I'm, I'm from Georgia, I'm from South Carolina, I'm from California.

How you doing? You know, looking good. Like the amount of compliments and friendly exchanges I've experienced on a cruise ship. It's like, where is this? Once we lead the cruise ship, where was this? When we, we were coming to the cruise ship. Why have we become such a society? You know, where in some places such as New Jersey where you don't greet each other with hey, how you doing?

You mind your own business? Otherwise people give you the middle finger or curse you out, you know, or in New York, you know, I'm walking here, but point being like, there's so much of this. Or rather a, a huge lack. Of just even friendliness and passing by, you know? And that's not to say all southern hospitality is real, but living in the south, having been born in the north, I've seen a huge shift in like how people greet one another and from regular day-to-day life to being on a cruise, seeing how people change, it's.

We should be using our ability to talk to bless one another with kind words always, you know, but we don't see that. We see a lot of hatred in this world, a lot of isolation, and it is truly sad. Now we'll move on to Ephesians chapter four, verse 29. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up.

And this is a part of discipleship and self-control. You know, monitoring our free will by using it again to build others up. This is kind of tying into what I was just talking about, like there's no need for unwholesome talk to come out of our mouths. You know, there are things that are thought that shouldn't be said, and I think this is important.

This is part of the reason why I don't believe or support in cursing. You know, there are people who do it and you know, I can't stop them, but I think like. There's no reason to use profanities. Like you can make your message be known without the use of them, even if you have to make a harsh or a strong point, you know?

And I think that there's just a lot of unwholesome talk, and I think the digital age has allowed a lot of people to get away with saying a lot of very unwholesome, lewd, erotic, sexual, racist, or hateful stuff online with no consequences or minimal consequences. So. Even though we can do that doesn't mean we should do that.

You know? And I think that's the most important part here is it says, do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth. We know that we can talk and wholesome and quote, get away with it. And we know ultimately there's no getting away with anything under the watchful eyes of God, right? But in, in this world and in these consequences.

A lot of us have the ability to talk unwholesome and get away with it, but that doesn't mean we should. And I, I like that it says what is helpful for building others up? That's what you should be talking about. And I think that's, again, something that we have strayed far away from. And I want to get into, you know, again, that tongue, I just wanna do a little Hebrew LaShon.

LaShon is Hebrew for tongue. And again, it's not just the body part. It talks about speech expression, influence, and moral direction, which is really important and I think that, again, this whole sermon was kind of inspired by Japan. Now I'm not saying their way of society is perfect or it's what should be copy pasted everywhere.

It is a noticeable difference, though I think that anyone would notice it. The train cars will sometimes have, you know, like 30, 40, 50 people all crammed together. And it's just complete silence, you know? And that's not to say that talking detracts from a society or that it's wrong, you know, they have their way of living.

America has theirs, Europe has theirs, Asia, the other parts of Asia has theirs, right? Every culture is different. But it did remind me of how there's biblical truth in. The controlling of speech and silence. Again, not that silence is holy and speaking is evil, but that as Eccle Ecclesiastes puts it best, there is a time and a place, you know, and there is a, a level to what we say is important.

You know, it's about discernment and everything is always about discernment. So I think that's really important part. And Camille, do you have anything you want to say along with this? I guess just speak with intention and yeah, like you said, there's a time and place for everything, so, right. So with that ladies and gentlemen, I just want you to take away from this sermon reflect on how you use your ability to talk.

Is it to make an impact? Is it just casual conversation? Is it too hate? And if so, what can you do to refine your speech? We know we can refine it in a few different ways with conversation with God through prayer and fasting, and then by reading the scripture and looking at how do the alignment of what we say and what God wants for our life line up.

So speak with discernment. Lean on the Holy Spirit, lean on praying. Lean on the word. And have good, impactful conversations and words wherever you go, whether it's a small platform, a big stage, or just your day-to-day life. It's important. Again, the tongue has the power of life or death to bless or curse.

Use it wisely. I.