What we say can be deadly poisen

The Sr. Sunday School class that I have the pleasure to be a part of on Sunday mornings has started studying the book of James. This morning I was reading ahead in James and I was
reminded again by the words of scripture about the power that the words that we say have on others.

"Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.
When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be."
James 3:1-10

Your words, my words, carry great power with them. The old playground saying "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me" is a LIE! It is not true. Words, as James puts it so clearly, are explosive. What we say to one another powerfully effects us.

Positive words can mean so much and do so much for a persons soul and negative words can destroy a person and crush there self-esteem.

Here is the thing that I have the most difficulty with; I think that we all understand this. We have all felt the effect of positive encouragement from someone and we all know, all to well, what unkind and mean words have done to us. We know the power of words for good and for bad.

If we know this than why do we continue to tear each other apart with the things that we say. Why don't we, who want to follow Jesus with our lives, choice to build up and encourage with our words rather than tear down and destroy. We need to constantly remember that the words that we say have a great power. We need to remember that our tongue and what we say reveals ultimately our heart. Praises and curses can't come from the same place. If we are tearing people up with our words, dropping bombs and throwing daggers, than it reflects something about us and our need for God. The tongue is powerful. We need to constantly strive to use it for good-- for God.

I pray that you all have a blessed and wonderful day. God loves you and so do I.

Love today.

In Christ's love and mine,
Doug

Comments

Popular Posts