The Power of Speech
Even though I was probably only 8 years old at the time, I can still vividly remember the feeling of embarrassment…of utter mortification. It was Sunday night church and the pastor (my Dad) was asking for words that started with the letter “E” that described Fathers. I had finally mustered up the courage to raise my hand with a word, and was pretty excited about my awesome word. It was such a good word, I didn’t even know what it meant! When my Dad called on me, I proudly announced my word, “edible!” As soon as I heard the laughter, I knew I had made a big mistake. To this day, I still remember this embarrassing incident when I hear the word “edible.”
Words are so powerful. They have the power to impress, and they have the power to embarrass, as I demonstrated so well as an 8-year-old! They have the power to build up and edify, and they have the power to tear down and destroy.
In James 3:6, James refers to the tongue as a “flame of fire.” How quickly a flame turns into a blazing fire that destroys everything in its path! Just 2 verses later he refers to the tongue as “an unruly evil”, full of deadly poison.” Proverbs 12:18 refers to some speech as being like “the piercings of a sword.” Prov. 11:9 says, “An hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his neighbor.” These verses and so many others in Scripture remind us of how our words, when thrown out recklessly, can hurt those around us. What an opposite effect however our words can have on those around us when chosen carefully! Prov. 16:24 says, “Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul and health to the bones.” According to Prov. 15:1, “A soft answer turneth away wrath,” and Prov. 12:18 “…the tongue of the wise is health.”Our words not only affect others, but they also affect us for evil or for good. I Peter 3:10-11 says, “For he that will love life and see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile. Let him eschew evil and do good; Let him seek peace and ensue it.” So how do we win this seemingly hopeless battle of controlling the tongue? It is definitely not through our own power! In Matthew 12:34, Jesus asks the Pharisees, “How can ye, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things….” So how do we go about changing our speech? By allowing God to change what is in our hearts. When we are feeding our hearts with the right “food”, God’s Word, then good thoughts and attitudes are a result! And when our hearts are full of this “good treasure,” then our lipswill be speaking “good things.” So fill your heart each day to overflowing with God’s Word, with godly counsel, with godly music! Because as Jesus reminds us, “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.”
“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.”