You're in limited preview mode.

Login or signup for free to unlock more content.

Wag Those Tongues to God's Glory

Self-control Edification Wisdom

Source: "This Austrian ‘tongue choir’ is a deeply distressing choral experience," 28 February 2020

Link to Source: Click here to view source

Contributed By: Illustration Exchange | Date Posted: 2024-11-16

Scripture: James 3:5 ; Proverbs 18:21

Author: Illustration Exchange
4

ILLUSTRATION

If you haven't heard the Tyrolean Tongue  Choir (from the Austrian Alps region of Tyrol) perform "a rumbling, a cappella chorus by flicking their tongues back and forth," frantically within their mouths, then you have clearly never truly experienced music! (Obviously spoken "tongue in cheek" LOL).

But seriously, it actually is a thing! Click here to listen to their moving version of "Moscow Nights," performed exclusively with their linguae naturales.

If you actually watch the video, you'll likely not get through it without either laughing or crigning. But if you close your eyes and just listen, it's actually quite entertaining.

APPLICATION

Scripture has some pretty harsh words concerning the influence of the tongue. 

"[T]he tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell" (James 3:5-6, ESV). ...

"But no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison" (James 3:8, ESV).

But take heart, all is not darkness! If anything, it's a pretty mixed bag ... 

"Death AND LIFE are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits" (Proverbs 18:21, ESV).

"With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God" (James 3:9, ESV).

We CAN learn to discipline our tongues for both our own good and the good of others.

"There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing (Proverbs 12:18, ESV).

"For 'Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit'" (1 Peter 3:10, ESV).

"Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear" (Ephesians 4:29, ESV).

"A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit" (Proverbs 15:4, ESV).

"Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble" (Proverbs 21:23, ESV).

Since the tongue can be such a duplicitous vessel, we must be sure to petition the Lord to "Set a guard, O Lord, over [our] mouths; keep watch over the door of [our] lips!" (Psalms 141:3, ESV). To do anything less, puts us in great peril of judgment. "I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned" (Matthew 12:36-37, ESV).

We can get a good chuckle out of the Austrian Tongue Choir. But it's such a riotously funny illustration of how the tongue CAN be used to make life more harmonious and pleasant.

Amidst the cacaphony of crassness, crudeness, cursing, and cruelty. Be the Austrian Tongue Choir, and wag those tongues to the rhythm of and to the glory of the grace of God!

The Creeping Influence of Bad Habits

Discipline (Self) Character Self-control

Source: Atomic Habits by James Clear, Ramdom House, 2018

Link to Source: Click here to view source

Contributed By: Illustration Exchange | Date Posted: 2024-07-23

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 6:12 ; Galatians 6:9

Author: James Clear
8

ILLUSTRATION

(The following illustration has applicatoin for both "bad" habits and "good" habits alike. As such, this illustration will appear in the database twice, with alternative applications dealing with both types of habits.)

Bad habits can kind of creep up on you. You're fine. You're handling them. Until ... you're not.

Imagine that you have an ice cube sitting on the table in front of you. The room is cold and you can see your breath. It is currently twenty-five degrees. Ever so slowly, the room begins to heat up. Twenty-six degrees. Twenty-seven. Twenty-eight. The ice cube is still sitting on the table in front of you. Twenty-nine degrees. Thirty. Thirty-one. Still, nothing has happened. Then, thirty-two degrees. The ice begins to melt. A one-degree shift, seemingly no different from the temperature increases before it, has unlocked a huge change. [Effects] are often the result of many previous actions, which build up ... unleash[ing] a major change. This pattern shows up everywhere. Cancer spends 80 percent of its life undetectable, then takes over the body in months. Bamboo can barely be seen for the first five years as it builds extensive root systems underground before exploding ninety feet into the air within six weeks.

APPLICATION

Bad habits are a lot like those stealthy bamboo shoots. They seem to be nothing to be worried about. They don't seem to be having any significant impact on your life or well being. Until one day, you can't keep them underground any longer. The negative impacts burst through the surface, and bam! Suddnely you have a 50 foot tall bamboo stalk casting shade over your entire existence.

Don't be duped. Those small, bad habits can turn into serious problems quickly. That is why we are cautioned by Scripture to take mastery over our attitudes and action before they take mastery over us.

"All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be dominated by anything" (1 Corinthians 6:12, ESV).

"Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up" (Galatians 6:7-9, ESV).

 

Acts of Humility

Humility Self-control Die To Self

Source: "an abridged and freely paraphrased version of 'Acts of Humility' from Holy Living by Jeremy Taylor," as posted on SemanticBible.com, retrieved 1/2/15

Link to Source: Click here to view source

Contributed By: Illustration Exchange | Date Posted: 2015-01-06

Scripture: James 4:10

Author: Jeremy Taylor (as paraphrased by SemanticBible.com
1

ILLUSTRATION

This is an abridged and freely paraphrased version of "Acts of Humility" from Holy Living by Jeremy Taylor.

  • Don't think better of yourself on account of things that happen outside yourself. You may be better than another person, by virtue of the gifts you've been given, in the same way that one horse may be better than another by being of more use to others. As a human, you have no reason to be proud of yourself except by what distinguishes you from the animals, namely what you choose and refuse.
  • Humility consists not in reviling yourself, wearing shabby clothes, or being quiet and submissive, but in holding a genuinely low regard for yourself. Be heartily convinced that you are an unworthy person, just as you believe yourself to be hungry, or poor, or sick, when these things are true of you.
  • If you call yourself a fool, don't be angry if someone else says the same of you. Everyone in the world wants others to agree with them when they speak the truth, and he is a hypocrite that accuses himself in front of others but doesn't intend to be believed.
  • Love to be concealed and held in low esteem; be content to lack praise, never being troubled when you are slighted or undervalued; for you cannot undervalue yourself, and if you think as little of yourself as you ought to, no contempt will seem unreasonable, and therefore it will be very tolerable.
  • Never be ashamed of your birth, or your parents, or your trade, or your current employment, because of the lowliness or poverty of any of them; but speak as readily and indifferently of lowliness as of greatness. Primislaus, the first king of Bohemia, always kept his country shoes by him, to remember where he was came from; and Agathocles, by what was on his table, reminded himself that he was raised from a potter to be the king of Sicily.
  • Never say anything that would directly lead to your praise or glory, whose only purpose is to commend yourself.
  • When you have said or done anything for which you receive praise, take it indifferently, and return it to God, reflecting upon Him as the giver of the gift, or the one who blessed the action, or the one who helped your plan; and give God thanks for making you an instrument of His glory, for the benefit of others.
  • Gain a good name by living virtuously and humbly; let others use your good name for their own advantage, let them speak of it if they please, but don't use it yourself except as an instrument to honor God, and give your neighbor more advantage.
  • Don't be satisfied when praise is offered to you, but let your rejoicing in God's gift be mixed with fear, lest this good thing bring you to evil.
  • Don't use strategies or tricks to get praise. Some mention the faults of their own actions or words, intending to hear that it was well done or well said and faultless. Others bring themselves into conversations, or thrust themselves into company, until by drinking the waters of vanity they swell and burst.
  • Don't console yourself, when you are disgraced or slighted, by supposing you deserved praise, though others misunderstood you or enviously took attention away from you. Don't gather to yourself a private theatre with flatterers, in whose vain noises and praise you can prop up your own good opinion of yourself.
  • Don't entertain fancies of vanity and private whispers of this devil of pride. Some people will walk alone, and dream (though waking) of greatness, of palaces, of excellent speeches, full theaters, loud applause, sudden advancement, great fortunes, and so will spend an hour with imaginative pleasure, which is nothing but fumes of pride, and an indication of what their heart wishes. Though there's nothing directly vicious in this, it is not in the least consistent with the safety and interests of humility.
  • Allow others to be complimented in your presence, and be delighted to see good and glory come to them. Don't disparage them: if others think more highly of them, that doesn't make you worth less as a person.
  • Be satisfied to see another person employed, even though you are passed over as unprofitable; his words approved, though yours are rejected; him preferred, while you are held in low esteem.
  • Never compare yourself with others, unless it is to advance them and abase yourself. To this end, you should be sure in one way or another to think yourself the worst in every group you enter: one is better educated than I, another is more prudent, a third honorable, a fourth more pure, or more generous, or less proud. Though it is always good to have a low regard for ourselves, it is never safe to speak it, because those circumstances which determine your thoughts are not known to others as they are to you. But if you keep your thoughts and opinions of yourself truly humble, you can with more safety give Go

APPLICATION

"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up" (James 4:10).

Crash Dummies Getting Fatter

Gluttony Self-control Spiritual Health

Contributed By: Illustration Exchange | Date Posted: 2014-10-31

Scripture: Proverbs 25:28 ; 1 Corinthians 9:27

Author: Illustration Exchange
2

This is Premium Content.

To see the full illustration, please Sign Up or

Don't Chain the Door, Just Leave It Shut

Temptation Self-control Defile/Defilement

Contributed By: Illustration Exchange | Date Posted: 2013-04-09

Author: Thomas à Kempis / Illustration Exchange
7

This is Premium Content.

To see the full illustration, please Sign Up or

Woman Fired For Being "Irresistible"

Temptation Sexuality Self-control

Contributed By: Illustration Exchange | Date Posted: 2013-01-02

Scripture: Genesis 39: ; James 1:3

Author: Illustration Exchange
6

This is Premium Content.

To see the full illustration, please Sign Up or

The Unspoken Word

Words (Power of) Self-control Accountability

Contributed By: Leroy Larson | Date Posted: 2012-10-04

Scripture: Proverbs 21:23 ; Matthew 12:36

Author: Solomon Ibn Gabirol
4

This is Premium Content.

To see the full illustration, please Sign Up or

Angry? Call the Swearing Hotline!

Anger God's Accessibility Self-control

Contributed By: Illustration Exchange | Date Posted: 2012-09-14

Scripture: Ephesians 4:26 ; James 1:19

Author: Chris Cottrell, REUTERS correspondent
4

This is Premium Content.

To see the full illustration, please Sign Up or

Murder Among the Gebusi

Murder Retribution Self-control

Contributed By: Illustration Exchange | Date Posted: 2012-08-11

Scripture: Genesis 6:5

Author: Bernard Asbell
1

This is Premium Content.

To see the full illustration, please Sign Up or

Calm Down, Susie

Stress Self-control Anger

Contributed By: Barnett Gushin | Date Posted: 2012-08-04

Scripture: 2 Thessalonians 3:16

Author: unknown
10

This is Premium Content.

To see the full illustration, please Sign Up or