Words. A Work in Progress.
Sometimes I don’t say things right. I know what I want to say but it just comes out wrong. I choose the wrong words, the wrong phrases. I leave things out. I imply things I don’t mean to imply. Have you ever been there? I know what I mean to say, but am I actually saying it so that the listener is picking up exactly what I mean to put down?
I’ve come to realize over the years that it’s one of the most important things when communicating information. A couple blogs ago, I started my entry off with a phrase that probably didn’t ring correctly in my listeners ears. But I didn’t catch it until well after I posted the blog. When I re-read it, I thought to myself “Oh no! That’s not what I was meaning to say. Why did I say it like that?” I quickly edited it, trying to express what it was that I was really trying to communicate. But, I sorta beat myself up over it. I felt so bad. I never want to mislead anyone. I had to talk to the Lord about it and ask for His forgiveness and covering about it.
And thankfully, He provides that grace. phew! And He also uses all things for the good. He took the opportunity to remind me that words carry power. What we declare can change the world, whether for good or bad. So, we need to be careful with our words. Which sometimes, I confess, I am not!
Words can hurt. Some of the roughest times in my marriage have had to do with words that were spoken. Words I said that should not have been said, or maybe should have been rephrased a different way to still express my thoughts without wounding my husband in the process. I wish I had taken time to think before I spoke. But words are like toothpaste. Once they're said, they're out there.
And of course, it's not always the words you choose but how you choose to say them. 'Kind phrases' spoken in a mean or sarcastic tone can hurt someone more than a slap in the face!
The Bible has plenty to say about our words. When I read the scriptures, I see CAUTION signs all over them. Caution, because seriously -- words change the world. The power of life and death is in the tongue!
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So today, I'll leave you with a few scriptures about it. And encourage you, as I encourage myself, to be careful. Your words matter.
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Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it and indulge it will eat its fruit and bear the consequences of their words. [Matt 12:37]”
Proverbs 18:21 AMP
There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, But the tongue of the wise brings healing.
Proverbs 12:18 AMP
A soothing tongue [speaking words that build up and encourage] is a tree of life, But a perversive tongue [speaking words that overwhelm and depress] crushes the spirit.
Proverbs 15:4 AMP
The one who guards his mouth [thinking before he speaks] protects his life; The one who opens his lips wide [and chatters without thinking] comes to ruin.
Proverbs 13:3 AMP
Not many [of you] should become teachers [serving in an official teaching capacity], my brothers and sisters, for you know that we [who are teachers] will be judged by a higher standard [because we have assumed greater accountability and more condemnation if we teach incorrectly]. For we all stumble and sin in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says [never saying the wrong thing], he is a perfect man [fully developed in character, without serious flaws], able to bridle his whole body and rein in his entire nature [taming his human faults and weaknesses]. Now if we put bits into the horses’ mouths to make them obey us, we guide their whole body as well. And look at the ships. Even though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the impulse of the helmsman determines. In the same sense, the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things.
See [by comparison] how great a forest is set on fire by a small spark! And the tongue is [in a sense] a fire, the very world of injustice and unrighteousness; the tongue is set among our members as that which contaminates the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life [the cycle of man’s existence], and is itself set on fire by hell (Gehenna). For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and sea creatures, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. But no one can tame the human tongue; it is a restless evil [undisciplined, unstable], full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God. Out of the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. These things, my brothers, should not be this way [for we have a moral obligation to speak in a manner that reflects our fear of God and profound respect for His precepts]. Does a spring send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, produce olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh.
James 3:1-12 AMP
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