Good Morning, My Dear Friends,
When we begin to weigh the most powerful things at our disposal, we usually don’t think about the words we speak. However, you can do more damage with your words than you can with any other part of your body or any other thing you have control over. You can destroy a person with words. Your words have the potential to determine the direction or destination of your entire life.
In the New Testament, the apostle James (the brother of Jesus) said, “No human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison” (James 3:8). It should come with a warning label! So, what do you do with such an unpredictable, dangerous thing as the tongue? Allow me to suggest three things: remember, surrender, and confess.
Remember the power that you have. You are a very powerful person because you can wield words, and words are the most powerful thing anyone can wield. Remember that every single time you open your mouth — especially when you are angry, when you are frustrated, when you are really wound up. You are born with your pilot light lit. At any moment, just remember that your potential for good, and your potential for evil, is really unlimited. Remember that.
Then we need to surrender this formidable weapon to our heavenly Father. This is an invitation to surrender our mouths and our words to our Father in heaven. The apostle Paul said, in the book of Romans, to “offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to God” (Romans 12:1). Perhaps as part of our prayer time we should say, “God, I give you my hands, I give you my feet, I’m surrendering my eyes, I’m surrendering my ears, and I’m surrendering my mouth. You may not be a person who prays very much, but here’s what I know about you: you want the person and the people that you live with to pray this prayer. So, why not join them?
And then perhaps we should confess when we’ve messed up. Whenever we mess up and those words come out, immediately we should simply confess. Don’t explain, don’t excuse, but own the fires that you have begun with your words. For those who grew up in homes or environments where words were used against you, please, for the sake of the next generation, don’t repeat the cycle. Decide that you’re going to break it, because words are powerful.
The apostle James reminds us, “your mouth cannot be tamed, it can only be guarded.” By God’s grace, and with some thoughtfulness on your part, it can be controlled. May we always remember James’ advice, and be “quick to listen, and slow to speak.”
May we honor, not hurt, one another with our words,
Bruce Jones, Pastor
Imagine Church
