Day 25 - The Accusing Tongue

Accuse - to charge with a fault, offense or crime, to blame

Revelation 12:10b 'For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night has been hurled down.'
This is satan who is known as the accuser of the brethren but what I didn't understand until recently was that he uses us to do this dirty work often.
As I looked up accuse, the definition - to blame, put a whole new spin of this use of the tongue. One of the meanings of blame is to place the responsibility on. I have seen countless times that accusation or blaming is used when someone does not take ownership of an issue.
One of my biggest pet peeves is when leadership gets blamed when someone's needs are not being fulfilled.
Unfortunately a prime example of this is in the church. It is sad how many Christians are doing religion and not relationship with God. Because of all these 'rules', they have unrealistic expectations of the leaders to be responsible for their spiritual well-being.
All of us have a responsibility and a calling to have relationship with God. No amount of accusation or blame will change this fact. We all have the ability and the way through Jesus Christ.
When we are emotionally immature we may become adept at shifting responsibility through blame or accusation. I know from personal experience this is just a temporary solution. God wants us to become more like Him and He loves us too much to leave us this way. He is faithful to place His finger all over that behavior in us until we learn our lesson and take responsibility for our own actions.
Deborah Pegues gives solutions to overcome this use of our tongue, ' Emotional and spiritual maturity dictate that you must seek first to understand rather than making an accusation. Asking a clarifying question and listening to the response are key steps in overcoming an accusing tongue. I repeat, ask and listen.'
So instead of trying to do God's job, let's exonerate others before bringing accusation, let them off the hook, release them from our blame. In this we too shall be free.
Speaking the Truth
Proverbs 11:12 'A man who lacks judgment derides his neighbor but a man of understanding holds his tongue.'
Proverbs 17:27 'A man of knowledge uses words with restraint, and a man of understanding is even-tempered.'

Excerpted from 30 Days to Taming Your Tongue by Deborah Smith Pegues (Harvest House Publishers 2005). Autographed copy of the book and workbook available at www.confrontingissues.com.