I tell you, siblings, our God is faithful. When I prepared the last two Nougats, I had no idea that God had direct, immediate plans for them. The testimonies you’ve shared about impact are amazing. God bless you.
We continue to think about Fearing God: not only as we teach others, but also for ourselves. Consider Today’s Holy Nougat.
Psalms 34:13 NIV
[13] Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies.
Guard, rather, Tame our Tongues
Siblings, this one is serious. It relates to more than just what we say. For, our speech reflects what’s truly on our hearts (see Matthew 12:34; Luke 6:45 for the context).
Self-Check
If someone were to audit our words or our hearts over time would kindness be readily found, or a rare mineral hidden deep within?
Deeper Dive
It is important to recall that speech, while officially restricted to literal vocal utterances, can be understood broadly to include social media activity and other forms of tech in our time. I make that distinction, because evil and guile can both be manifested without the tongue or mouth today. The proliferation of tech and social media makes that abundantly clear. Among our teens and young adults, bullying and teasing are very common in social media, through what is known as Tech-Facilitated GBV. It is a form of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence.
The UNFPA notes this about TFGBV: Technology-facilitated gender-based violence, or TFGBV, is an act of violence perpetrated by one or more individuals that is committed, assisted, aggravated and amplified in part or fully by the use of information and communication technologies or digital media, against a person on the basis of their gender.
Moreover, a UN Women’s report indicates that:
The digital revolution has both exacerbated existing forms of gender-based violence (such as sexual harassment, stalking, hate speech, misinformation, defamation, and impersonation) and created new forms of abuse (such as hacking, astroturfing, video and image-based abuse including deepfakes, doxing, cyberbullying, and online grooming among others.
These aren’t the only manifestations of TFGBV, as the report further states
Other forms of abuse that women and girls face include cyberbullying, hate speech, sexual exploitation, defamation, intimate image-sharing, sextortion, revenge porn.
Siblings, there’s no way to describe these nicely. TFGBV is evil. Plain and simple. Worse when we consider that close to 58% of young women and girls face some form of online harassment globally. While we could argue, and rightly so, that these do not necessarily involve the tongue – I believe TFGBV easily qualifies as guile, which includes gossip, lies, and harassment. It is up to us therefore, to ensure that we are not party to such activities. Or, in the language of Hebrew Law, we must remove such evil from our midst.
TFGBV not only affect women and girls. But they are also among the main victims. When we understand God’s way as love and grace, we realise that fearing God cannot include, or condone, such activities.
Nor should it be assumed that it is okay to berate, lie about, or speak evil about others or ourselves. David’s original caution is about what we actually say about others. Not only does it hurt the one against whom it is directed, it also paints an unwholesome picture of us and our faith. If we agree that God is not to be mocked, then we also need to ensure that as God’s emissaries, we live the best example of godliness that we can. We must guard our lips.
In considering yesterday’s words of affirmation, we realise that the apostle James is correct. His caution in the 3rd chapter of his epistle tells us that the tongue is deadly. For from it pours both good and evil. Siblings, might we be known for the good we say and do – to our youth seeking God role models, to persons needing affirmation and love, to onlookers seeking God through the pages of our lives, and to ourselves. May our Tongues refrain from evil, and our lips from speaking guile.
Point to Ponder
How might we help end TFGBV, and how can we also be about the business of comfort and cheer to those whose lives have been affected by others’ harassment and abuse?
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May all we seek be found in Christ
