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billcu1
Guest
What does the church teach that the scripture that says “Every Idle word…” and so on will be used against you? Sounds like God just waiting for a mistake.
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hazcompat
Guest
From usccb website
“If on the day of judgment people will be held accountable for even their careless words, the vicious accusations of the Pharisees will surely lead to their condemnation.”
James 3:1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you realize that we will be judged more strictly, 2 for we all fall short in many respects. If anyone does not fall short in speech, he is a perfect man, able to bridle his whole body also.a 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we also guide their whole bodies. 4 It is the same with ships: even though they are so large and driven by fierce winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot’s inclination wishes. 5 In the same way the tongue is a small member and yet has great pretensions.
Consider how small a fire can set a huge forest ablaze.
6The tongue is also a fire. It exists among our members as a world of malice, defiling the whole body and setting the entire course of our lives on fire, itself set on fire by Gehenna. 7For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. This need not be so, my brothers. 11 Does a spring gush forth from the same opening both pure and brackish water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, produce olives, or a grapevine figs? Neither can salt water yield fresh.
God is not lurking, or waiting for your foot to slip only to pounce and punish you. Still we should be watchful over what we say. Imitate Christ in His meekness.
“Learn of Me because I am meek and humble of heart” (Mt 11:29).
Peace
“If on the day of judgment people will be held accountable for even their careless words, the vicious accusations of the Pharisees will surely lead to their condemnation.”
James 3:1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you realize that we will be judged more strictly, 2 for we all fall short in many respects. If anyone does not fall short in speech, he is a perfect man, able to bridle his whole body also.a 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we also guide their whole bodies. 4 It is the same with ships: even though they are so large and driven by fierce winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot’s inclination wishes. 5 In the same way the tongue is a small member and yet has great pretensions.
Consider how small a fire can set a huge forest ablaze.
6The tongue is also a fire. It exists among our members as a world of malice, defiling the whole body and setting the entire course of our lives on fire, itself set on fire by Gehenna. 7For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. This need not be so, my brothers. 11 Does a spring gush forth from the same opening both pure and brackish water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, produce olives, or a grapevine figs? Neither can salt water yield fresh.
God is not lurking, or waiting for your foot to slip only to pounce and punish you. Still we should be watchful over what we say. Imitate Christ in His meekness.
“Learn of Me because I am meek and humble of heart” (Mt 11:29).
Peace
M
Mary_Ellen
Guest
Really, was it such a big deal to eat the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden? I mean, it’s just a tree like all the rest and the fruit looks so nice and innocent, surely God won’t even notice or even really care.
Even the smallest idle word may hurt someone else, may injure your relationship with God, may constitute sin, may crucify Christ. It’s not that God is just waiting to pounce on us and say, “Ah ha, gotcha!” but He is just waiting to catch us in His merciful arms and say “Ah ha, gotcha!”
Even the smallest idle word may hurt someone else, may injure your relationship with God, may constitute sin, may crucify Christ. It’s not that God is just waiting to pounce on us and say, “Ah ha, gotcha!” but He is just waiting to catch us in His merciful arms and say “Ah ha, gotcha!”
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SoulSolace
Guest
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JasonLovesJesus
Guest
God is not an old man in the clouds waiting for us to say something sinful so He can zap us, a lot of people in our culture have that misconstrued idea that God is that. He is not. What the Scripture is saying is that we will be held accountable for our actions. We are to walk through this life with the fear of God in our hearts, because as the Scripture says, it’s a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the Living God. God is so incredibly massive, powerful and holy, we should tremble and shake at the mere thought of crossing Him. Of course, we don’t (for the most part) do this, but alas, that is yet another symptom of our sinful malady, the human condition.
Lord have mercy
T
TimothyH
Guest
It’s best to keep silent.
*I said, "I will guard my ways,
that I may not sin with my tongue;
I will bridle my mouth,
so long as the wicked are in my presence."
(Psalm 39:1)
For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by humankind, but no human being can tame the tongue – a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brethren, this ought not to be so. (James 3:7-10)*
A very wise and holy man once posted on these forums that silence is a virtue, and sometimes silence is a moral obligation if we have nothing uplifting to say to our brother.
-Tim-
*I said, "I will guard my ways,
that I may not sin with my tongue;
I will bridle my mouth,
so long as the wicked are in my presence."
(Psalm 39:1)
For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by humankind, but no human being can tame the tongue – a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brethren, this ought not to be so. (James 3:7-10)*
A very wise and holy man once posted on these forums that silence is a virtue, and sometimes silence is a moral obligation if we have nothing uplifting to say to our brother.
-Tim-
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Cricket2
Guest
This makes me think of my near death experience at the age of 4.
All I can ATTEMPT to say is this: Every single nuance, letter, sound of the words I heard had so much more meaning than I can even say or explain. For example the word “There” was the first word of the following sentence “There is a God.” I heard those words spoken to me and that is how I learned God existed.
Still in hearing just those words, and each one of those words I came to understand the following in the exact moment of hearing them: There was a God, that was to be worshiped, that I could pray to that God and what prayer was, that I could offer my sufferings to God and that had to do with salvation, that I could stay with Him or come back, and that I was FREE to choose, but I could also let Him choose. And the list goes on and on and on. It was if in those 4 simple words I experienced an instant infusion of knowledge I never had before.
So, we must be very careful and mindful of what comes out of our mouths. And if we think we don’t need to go to confession, a good place to start is to think of the words you spoke all week. If we did just that (myself included) the lines at the confessional would be much longer and the world would be much quieter. Silence would speak volumes to us.
All I can ATTEMPT to say is this: Every single nuance, letter, sound of the words I heard had so much more meaning than I can even say or explain. For example the word “There” was the first word of the following sentence “There is a God.” I heard those words spoken to me and that is how I learned God existed.
Still in hearing just those words, and each one of those words I came to understand the following in the exact moment of hearing them: There was a God, that was to be worshiped, that I could pray to that God and what prayer was, that I could offer my sufferings to God and that had to do with salvation, that I could stay with Him or come back, and that I was FREE to choose, but I could also let Him choose. And the list goes on and on and on. It was if in those 4 simple words I experienced an instant infusion of knowledge I never had before.
So, we must be very careful and mindful of what comes out of our mouths. And if we think we don’t need to go to confession, a good place to start is to think of the words you spoke all week. If we did just that (myself included) the lines at the confessional would be much longer and the world would be much quieter. Silence would speak volumes to us.
J
JasonLovesJesus
Guest
Dear Cricket,
This story reminds me of two Bible verses:
the first from II Corinthians 12:3 And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— 4 how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
and the second from I Corinthians 2: 7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, 8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
9 But as it is written:
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
God bless
M
mommy_k
Guest
You can also look at Proverbs 18:21
Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and they that love it shall eat the fruit of it.
Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and they that love it shall eat the fruit of it.
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billcu1
Guest
I find what you say very interesting. Those who know more will be judged differently. What exactly though is the “day of judgment” ?
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hazcompat
Guest
Catechism of the Catholic Church
1021 Death puts an end to human life as the time open to either accepting or rejecting the divine grace manifested in Christ.592 The New Testament speaks of judgment primarily in its aspect of the final encounter with Christ in his second coming, but also repeatedly affirms that each will be rewarded immediately after death in accordance with his works and faith. The parable of the poor man Lazarus and the words of Christ on the cross to the good thief, as well as other New Testament texts speak of a final destiny of the soul–a destiny which can be different for some and for others.593
1022 Each man receives his eternal retribution in his immortal soul at the very moment of his death, in a particular judgment that refers his life to Christ: either entrance into the blessedness of heaven-through a purification594 or immediately,595 – or immediate and everlasting damnation.596
At the evening of life, we shall be judged on our love.597
V. THE LAST JUDGMENT
1038 The resurrection of all the dead, "of both the just and the unjust,"623 will precede the Last Judgment. This will be "the hour when all who are in the tombs will hear [the Son of man’s] voice and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment."624 Then Christ will come "in his glory, and all the angels with him. . . . Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left. . . . And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."625
1039 In the presence of Christ, who is Truth itself, the truth of each man’s relationship with God will be laid bare.626 The Last Judgment will reveal even to its furthest consequences the good each person has done or failed to do during his earthly life:
All that the wicked do is recorded, and they do not know. When “our God comes, he does not keep silence.”. . . he will turn towards those at his left hand: . . . "I placed my poor little ones on earth for you. I as their head was seated in heaven at the right hand of my Father - but on earth my members were suffering, my members on earth were in need. If you gave anything to my members, what you gave would reach their Head. Would that you had known that my little ones were in need when I placed them on earth for you and appointed them your stewards to bring your good works into my treasury. But you have placed nothing in their hands; therefore you have found nothing in my presence."627
1040 The Last Judgment will come when Christ returns in glory. Only the Father knows the day and the hour; only he determines the moment of its coming. Then through his Son Jesus Christ he will pronounce the final word on all history. We shall know the ultimate meaning of the whole work of creation and of the entire economy of salvation and understand the marvelous ways by which his Providence led everything towards its final end. The Last Judgment will reveal that God’s justice triumphs over all the injustices committed by his creatures and that God’s love is stronger than death.628
1041 The message of the Last Judgment calls men to conversion while God is still giving them "the acceptable time, . . . the day of salvation."629 It inspires a holy fear of God and commits them to the justice of the Kingdom of God. It proclaims the “blessed hope” of the Lord’s return, when he will come "to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at in all who have believed."630
scborromeo.org/ccc/p123a12.htm
Peace
J
juliamajor
Guest
I think it is a bit of hyperbole but the point is just because you do not harm anyone physically doesn’t mean you haven’t destroyed someone with you words. Insinuations, calumny, gossip and rumors can be more harmful than a weapon because they can destroy your position in life, your family, your spirit and your soul.
Jesus knows that harming the heart can be enormously poisonous to a whole community .physical scars fade not so with those that effect the spirit . James and other apostles saw just how damaging words can be.Not so dramatic as blood and guts but infinitely more insidious.
Jesus knows that harming the heart can be enormously poisonous to a whole community .physical scars fade not so with those that effect the spirit . James and other apostles saw just how damaging words can be.Not so dramatic as blood and guts but infinitely more insidious.
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billcu1
Guest
And the words can hurt you and your relationship with God inside too. As I understand. What might seem venial my even become mortal sin.
R
ready
Guest
It doesn’t sound like God is awaiting a mistake; it just sounds like we must be perfectly responsible for what comes forth from our mouths, we must carefully weigh and consider our every word before we speak, for we can do much damage with our tongue, more than we ever could do with a dozen demolition trucks working together. God bless you.
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