Follow Him in Thought and Word

What this book is

We live in a “Tower of Babble” — a never-ending storm of unnecessary, unsavory, and destructive words from phones, screens, and the people around us. God has not spoken to the world about its communication, but He has very definitely spoken to His people. This book sets out God’s plan for how we are, and are not, to think and speak.

Beginning with “the very first Word” and the filters God gives us, it moves through taming the tongue, getting our minds right, being slow to speak, Christ as our example, the love filter, taking thoughts captive, gossip, “power tool” safety, and healing words — ending with a recipe for right thinking and speaking and an appendix of Scriptures to meditate on and memorize. Its theme verse is Psalm 19:14: “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord.”

What is inside

• The Very First Word
• Word Filters
• Taming Our Tongues?
• Getting Our Minds Right
• Mind and Mouth Yielded to God
• Slow to Speak
• God Created Our Minds and Our Mouths for a Purpose
• Christ Is Our Example
• Our Communications Belong to Jesus
• The Love Filter
• Captive Thoughts Produce Christ-Centered Speech
• Speaking God's Words God's Way
• "Power Tool" Safety
• Gossip Is Wrong
• A Recipe for Right Thinking and Speaking
• Healing Words
• Appendix — Scriptures to Meditate On and Memorize

Scripture in this book

This book quotes or cites Scripture about 118 times, from 23 books of the Bible. Each reference opens in the ESV at Blue Letter Bible.

Genesis (2 references)

1:1-5
11:1-9

Deuteronomy (1 reference)

31:6

Joshua (1 reference)

1:9

Psalms (13 references)

1:1-3, 1:1-6
19:14
46:10
103:12
119:9-16
139:1-5, 139:4

Proverbs (25 references)

10:19
15:1, 15:4
16:23
17:27-28
18:13
20:19
21:23
25:11
26:20
29:11, 29:20

Isaiah (2 references)

43:7
55:8

Lamentations (1 reference)

3:23

Matthew (7 references)

12:34, 12:34-35, 12:36-37
18:15-17
22:36-40

John (9 references)

3:1-8, 3:16
14:1-7
15:4, 15:5
16:13, 16:33
19:28-30

Romans (13 references)

1:6, 1:28-32
3:10, 3:23
8:1, 8:9-11, 8:29, 8:34
12:1-2, 12:2

1 Corinthians (2 references)

6:19-20
13:1-8

2 Corinthians (2 references)

10:5

Galatians (2 references)

2:20

Ephesians (6 references)

2:1-10
4:29
5:6

Philippians (11 references)

2:5
4:2-9, 4:4, 4:4-9, 4:5, 4:6-7, 4:8

Colossians (3 references)

3:17

1 Timothy (1 reference)

6:20

2 Timothy (3 references)

2:16, 2:16-17

Titus (2 references)

3:2, 3:2-7

Hebrews (1 reference)

13:5

James (9 references)

1:19-20, 1:19-21
3:2, 3:3-8, 3:5-6, 3:7-8, 3:9-12

1 Peter (1 reference)

1:16

1 John (1 reference)

1:9

Topics

SpeechThe TongueThought LifeSocial MediaGossipCommunicationRenewing the MindPsalm 19:14James 3