“Words are powerful; take them seriously.
For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” ~Matthew 12:37
As I began to prepare for this week’s lesson, Taming the Tongue, I asked the Lord to tune my ears to the right channel, to His channel. I asked Him to highlight how words are being used and to reveal to me the power of speech. I made a commitment to listen differently and with intention. I opened my ears to not only the voices around me, but also to the voice within me. What I started to hear was a dialogue mixed with good and evil. On one hand, I was hearing speech full of mercy and love for others, peace and harmony, sincerity and honesty; yet, on the other I heard bitterness and resentment, filthy language and blame, anger and rage. I had never listened like that before. I was surprised at how a spoken word could cause either joy or pain. Friends, the saying is true, our words matter.
“Curses and blessings out of the same mouth…this should not be.” ~James 3:10
In James’ letter to the Jewish-Christian communities, he stresses the importance of controlling one’s speech. In verses 1-12 he insists that if we, God’s people, are to lead a life of faith, we must learn to control the one thing that can bring either life or death. James is referring to the power of the tongue; a small organ he calls a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body, a tool used by Satan to divide the nations. He even states that our speech can send the world up in smoke. Smoke, he says, from the pit of hell. Here is his warning: hateful words are like a wildfire. Once spoken, they spread quickly and the damage they leave behind is rarely reversible. Those are powerful words! As I type, I can feel their influence in my physical body.
If we take James’ warning to heart, we must learn how to tame this volatile muscle. But in verse 8, James tells us that no human is capable of doing that; no human is capable of doing that…without God. Here we reach the key point in James’ scripture. He acknowledges that we lack the ability to achieve perfect control of our tongue, so he guides us to the One who can. God knows we cannot fight the tongue’s fire in our own strength; we must rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to monitor and control what comes out of our mouth. Only in partnership with Him, do we have the ability to speak life!
“The soothing tongue is a tree of life.” ~Proverbs 15:4
I want my speech to be a tree of life, how about you? I want a tongue, a caring tongue. I want my words to be encouraging and uplifting. I want them to be the hope in the room. Solomon says it best. He refers to one’s speech throughout his book of Proverbs. He tells us that what we say probably has a greater impact on others and ourselves more than anything else. And that if we can learn to harness this small muscle, we will learn how to control our whole body. The words we say reflect the heart within. A heart without Jesus speaks in unloving ways, but a heart with Jesus speaks life.
Join me Thursday at Teaching and Worship as we continue to uncover the power of speech and the gift of the tongue. Friends, control of the tongue is not just proof that we live a faithful life, it’s the means to a faithful life.
God bless you!
