H.U.S.H. My New Favorite Habit | Help, I Have Bad Habits (Class 5)

Hi, my name is Brie, and this is Class 5 in our digital discipleship collection that we're calling "Help, I have bad habits." And today, I want to introduce you to what is quickly becoming my brand new favorite habit. It's a habit wrapped up in one simple word, hush, also the title for today's class. I don't know about you, but I grew up in church, and from a very young age, me and my friends would sit together, usually in the back row of the church, if we could get away with it. And we'd be talking, passing notes, sharing secrets, all the different things. And every now and then, my mom would look back at me and say, "Hush, have you ever been hush before?" Back then, the word hush felt negative. But today, I've learned to hush myself in many moments of my life. Now this class may seem simple on the surface, but it might be one of the most transformative ones we get to do together. Because most people don't realize how powerful their words really are. We tend to think that words are just sounds, just reactions to a moment, just expressions of how we feel, but Scripture gives us a very different picture. Let me read to you Proverbs 18, 20, and 21. It says, "Wise words satisfy like a good meal. The right words bring satisfaction. The tongue can bring life or death. Those who love to talk will reap the consequences." So according to Scripture, your words are not passive. They're active. They're not just describing your life. They're active participants in shaping your life. And some of us are not just living in a tough, current reality. What we're saying is actually determining our everyday outcomes. So the question is not just, "What are you going through?"

The question is, "What are you saying while you're going through it?" Because your words are shaping your life more than you think. Our core truth for today is, your words are not just communication. They are construction. And if we're going to build a life that's full of abundance, faith, and victory, we have to learn how to hush, say it with me, hush. Let's break down this habit. So hush is an acronym for different main points, and the H stands for Hold Your Tongue. The very first step in mastering your words is learning when to stop them from leaving your mouth. You have to learn to hold your tongue. Have you ever said something and immediately regretted it the moment it left your lips? And you wish you could freeze time and take the words back out of the air? I know somebody feels that way. Maybe you even did that today. Well, James 3, 5-10 tells us that the tongue is like a rudder on a massive ship. It's a tiny little piece of the vessel, but whichever way that rudder turns, the entire ship follows. If you don't control the rudder, you wreck the entire ship. James 1-19 tells us, "Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters. You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry." Why? Because a lot of times, we try to clean up the sentence while ignoring the condition of the heart behind it. It's like pushing out toothpaste out of a tube. Once you push that toothpaste out, there's no way it's going back. You can try, but it's not happening. Our words show us the condition of our hearts. Matthew 12 and 34 tells us, "For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. Your words are revealing.

They expose what's being formed underneath the surface. And before it ever comes out of your mouth, they're showing you that there is a root to the fruit." To all my married couples, you know exactly what it's like to say something in which it never came out. I too have done that in my marriage. The truth is, when negativity consistently comes out of our mouth, whether it looks like criticism, doubt, fear, sarcasm, or cynicism, whether it is control, when control consistently comes out of our mouth, whether it's speaking before someone else, interrupting everyone or telling everybody what to do. When gossip comes out of our mouth, whether that's breaking confidentiality or sharing rumors or sharing something that you're not supposed to, it's not just a personality trait. It's not just a bad day spilling out over your speech. It's revealing something that has been sitting, growing, and even being rehearsed internally over time. If you want to change the output, you've got to pause, hold your tongue and check the Point number two is you. You is understand your power. Once you've learned how to pause, you have to understand the sheer weight of what you're about to release. Your words carry not just physical weight, but spiritual authority. Scripture doesn't get more direct when it says that death and life lies in the power of our tongue. You hold spiritual authority through what you say. That means your words are never neutral. They either birth life or they kill it. Every time you open your mouth, you're either building something or breaking something

in your family, in your body, in your children, in your spouse, in your friends, in your self. Death and life lie in the power of your tongue. Matthew 12, 36 through 37 tells us it says, and I tell you this, you must give an account on Judgment Day for every idle word you speak. The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you. That brings serious weight. It means that God hears everything you say and is gonna run it back to you one day. When you speak a word and agree with it, it gains power. Another way to say this is, what you consistently speak eventually becomes what you consistently experience. Your words are planting seeds and you and everyone around you will eat that fruit. If you speak fear long enough, you'll start living in fear. If you speak defeat long enough, you'll start expecting defeat. So don't be shocked if your child continues lying if you call him a liar. Don't be shocked if your finances are always tight. If you continually call yourself broke. Don't be shocked if your marriage is struggling if you only speak death over it. Your words hold spiritual authority. We say spiritual authority, we mean unseen power. Just because you can't see your words doesn't mean you won't see the power that your words hold. Point three is as an as stands for say what you want.

Because your words have power, you have to stop using them to describe the problem and you need to start using them to declare the promise. This is the habit of faith. Don't just say what you see, say what you want. This is not the same as name it and claim it gospel, okay? This is speaking in faith, speaking those things as not as though they are. James three compares the tongue to a fire. A small spark can burn down an entire forest. A few careless words spoken in frustration can completely shift the atmosphere of a home. A single comment, even a little hmm, can damage trust in a relationship that takes years to build. We place labels on people in emotional moments that helps to shape their identity for years. But if words can ruin words can also restore. Ephesians four and 29 tells us, "Don't let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up." And Proverbs 15 and four says, "The soothing tongue is a tree of life. A tree of life produces nourishment, shade, strength, and growth. That means your words have the ability to create environments where people flourish instead of shrink." If you know a little bit about my story, you know that I've been married now for over 10 years, but at the beginning of our marriage,

it was real, real bad. I mean, Michael Jackson bad. Anyways, years before our marriage was ever healed, I started speaking life over it. I started talking about how my husband and I were built for each other. I started saying things that weren't even necessarily true at the time about our marriage, but eventually became true because words hold power and they can heal and restore and redeem. Stop speaking the problem and start speaking the solution. You can speak encouragement into someone's insecurity. You can speak hope into someone's disappointment. You can speak faith into an atmosphere filled with fear. Words should build people, environments, and faith. Point number four is age. And age stands for here from the helper. Now this one is so important. Some of us, you've been listening to this right now and you've been thinking, oh, that sounds impossible. My tongue slips even before I even realize it. And you're right. In your own strength, it is impossible. James says that no human being can tame the tongue, but what is impossible for man is possible for God. That's why the final age is the most important. You must hear from the helper. He's called the helper for a reason. Have you ever been in a situation where you needed help? Why in the world would you deny help?

Proper says that many are the plans of a man in our heart, but it's the Lord's purpose that prevails. The habit of hush means you stop talking long enough to listen, not just to anybody, but listen to the Holy Spirit. So that when you do open your mouth and you do speak, you're only saying what he is saying to you. When you make it a habit to hear from the helper, he will give you a holy nudge right before you speak a word of anger or fear. He'll drop a word of knowledge in your spirit to encourage a stranger. He'll even give you wisdom to speak life when everything around you looks dead. You don't have to manage your mouth on your own. Lean on the helper. At Transformation Church, we have a whole series called The Upgrade where we go into more detail about who the helper or the Holy Spirit is. We'll put that link below. Think about someone who spoke in life to you years ago. You probably still remember the exact words they said. Now think about someone who spoke something deeply negative over you. You probably remember that too. That is the construction power of words. Today, let's practice hush. Hold your tongue. Be quick to listen slow to speak.

Understand your power. Your mouth releases life or death. Say what you want. Speak faith and not just the problem. And most importantly, hear from the helper. Let the Holy Spirit guide your speech. I want you to intentionally practice the power of hush this week before you react, before you speak, before you say anything. Pause and then speak life intentionally over three areas in your life. The first one is yourself. Speak life over you, over your mind, over your body, over your beliefs. Speak life over you. The second one is your family. And I want you to specifically lean into maybe those family members that I've been really hard for you to deal with. Your mom, your dad, your siblings, your children, your spouse, your extended family members. This week, pause and intentionally speak life over your family. And the last thing is intentionally speak life over your future, your hopes, your dreams, the calling that God has in your life. Stop, pause, and intentionally speak life over your future. Let's pray together. God, we thank you so much for the power of our tongue,

reminding us that we hold power, spiritual authority in the words that we speak. Now that can feel a little daunting, but also it feels very empowering. So will you help to guide our words, guide our speech, guide what we say, so that it's edifying to those around us, encouraging to ourself and glorifies you. Help us to speak faith over anything else. In the name of Jesus, we pray, amen. Your words are building something today. Make sure it's life. Get ready to live, a transformed life built by healthy habits, including your words. We'll see you in the next class. (whooshing) (whooshing)