02 April 2023
Two-Minute Features | 09 April 2023

Taming Our Behaviors & Speech, Part 2 (TMF:2065)

Friday, April 07, 2023
Peace to Live By: Taming Our Behaviors & Speech, Part 2 (TMF:2065) - Daniel Litton
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       We’ve all seen the movie Jurassic World (2015). The presence of the dinosaurs always seems to lead to some sort of destruction. It’s a darn shame. Anyway, the point in all of this is that any wild animal can be tamed by man, whether that’s a velociraptor, Tyrannosaurus rex (I don’t see why not), a bear, a lion, a German Shepherd, or a chihuahua. I suppose even a house cat could be tamed. Psychologists, or animal psychologists (yes, there is such a thing), differ on to what level of consciousness an animal can reach, or what its maximum potential is. Nonetheless, we know that animals certainly are not as advanced in consciousness as we are, as humans. That being the case, why is it that James says that the tongue cannot be tamed? Why is that an animal can display better behaviors than we as humans often do? Why is it that people will turn to animals after a bad experience with a human for comfort and encouragement? What makes us as humans among the most vile, even more so than a T-Rex?

Taming Our Behaviors & Speech, Part 1 (TMF:2064)

Thursday, April 06, 2023
Peace to Live By: Taming Our Behaviors & Speech, Part 1 (TMF:2064) - Daniel Litton
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       Back in James. Next he says, “For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, these things ought not to be so” (James 3:7-10, ESV). We’ve all seen the movie Jurassic World (2015). We know in that movie that the character Owen had tamed four velociraptors on the Island where the park was, and he had great control of these dinosaurs. He had trained them in all kinds of ways, and even so much so that some evil people thought the dinosaurs could be used for warfare. It’s a darn shame. The presence of the dinosaurs always seems to lead to some sort of destruction. Anyway, the point in all of this is that any wild animal can be tamed by man, whether that’s a velociraptor, Tyrannosaurus rex (I don’t see why not), a bear, a lion, a German Shepherd, or a chihuahua. I suppose even a house cat could be tamed.

Avoiding Joking & Teasing (TMF:2063)

Wednesday, April 05, 2023
Peace to Live By: Avoiding Joking & Teasing (TMF:2063) - Daniel Litton
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       One more thing before I wrap this section up, and I think this needs to be said, that it is important to watch our joking and teasing of others, even when we think it is all in fun, because it may not be so fun for the person being teased. Perhaps someone committed a social faux pas, and everyone knows about it. Perhaps they gave a speech during church service and said a couple of things we think they shouldn’t have said. You might kid the person the first day for it, but it should not be something that is now eternally reoccurring every time we have an interaction with the person. For the jokers and teasers, that’s a negative characteristic. Remember, you also could do something wrong in the future, and you most certainly will, because everyone does wrong, it’s just that most of the time people aren’t publicly aware of the wrong. So, we should not go all high-horse, self-righteous, toward others, even in the form of joking. That’s what joking and teasing really is, isn’t it. It’s a display of our own self-righteousness.

Being a Blessing to Others (TMF:2062)

Tuesday, April 04, 2023
Peace to Live By: Being a Blessing to Others (TMF:2062) - Daniel Litton
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       The reality is, no matter what you think, the thoughts, the beliefs, and finally, the things that come out of our mouths, and even our non-verbal communication, have an impact on others. This is for the positive or for the negative. I mean, it’s common sense right? If we want our tongues to be full of gold, to be full of love, compassion, assistance, help, support, and encouragement, we should be thinking those kind of thoughts beforehand. We should be thinking those kinds of thoughts during the week, when we are not around a brother and sister at church. Then when we are around them, the good thoughts will beget good speech, and this good speech will bless another. Then, in blessing another, we really have blessed ourselves, because we feel good about the positive interaction, the good fellowship really, we have had with another. One more thing before I wrap this section up, and I think this needs to be said, that it is important to watch our joking and teasing of others, even when we think it is all in fun, because it may not be so fun for the person being teased.

Speaking Negatively About Others (TMF:2061)

Monday, April 03, 2023
Peace to Live By: Speaking Negatively About Others (TMF:2061) - Daniel Litton
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       To look at it another way, what are some ways that we can speak negatively to, or about others? We can be jealous of them, speak angrily to them, we can snub them, not give them the credit that is due them, we can hold something negative in mind when we see them (perhaps something they did we didn’t like), and we can even intimidate others to try and get them to act in ways in which we feel are right. The problem with all of this, all of these negative thoughts which lead to negative speech, is that they are self-righteous. We feel we are right. We feel we have a right to do what we are doing. This is not what God has setup as his universal truth, though. These are not the ways God’s wants us to act. The reality is, no matter what you think, the thoughts, the beliefs, and finally, the things that come out of our mouths, and even our non-verbal communication, have an impact on others. This is for the positive or for the negative. I mean, it’s common sense right?