Hello everyone!
We are seeing what the power of words can do on the national scene this very day. We are seeing how words carelessly spoken not only hurt people but create distrust, disunity and disharmony. I am not just talking about the spoken word, in this case it is the written word as well. Oh I pray that our president is sent someone who will teach him how to speak with kindness and humility, when to speak, and when to leave well enough alone despite his own opinion. I pray he understands the consequences and weight of his words, for many of his carelessly spoken and written words weigh heavy on my heart. I do not know, none of us know, what consequences they will bring. Oh that he would open his eyes to see that life and death are in the power of his tongue!
God created words. He made the universe with words. He made us with words. He made the angels with words. He gave us words. You can brighten someone's day with just a simple compliment. You can take every shred of confidence they have with a put down. Even words typed from behind a screen carry power! God inspired the written Word of God, the Bible! Why would it be any different for the humans he gave words to? Have you ever wondered why positive words lift people up and negative words bring them down? Your written and spoken words can create or destroy, they can bring life or death. Ask anyone, myself included, who has dealt with verbal abuse and we can tell you, words matter!!
I have been guilty of carelessly spoken and written words. Oh to be able to take them back or retract them! However, it is not that easy once they are said, heard or read. Fixing the problem your mouth or fingers caused always takes longer than if you had never said or typed those words in the first place. Ah, if we could harness our tongues and our thoughts! How much better this world would be!
The apostle James summed up this problem quite nicely in
James 3:6-10 NIV;
The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being 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 human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.
I believe James saw the same problems then that we are seeing play out today. He saw it among Christians and politicians alike. He encouraged those of his day to change this from their hearts! I wonder what James would say to or president, our news media and our politicians? I wonder what the apostle Paul would say to them? These two men understood the power of our words. I wonder what Jesus would say to them? He is the Author of all words that bring life. I believe he would speak life to all of them and truth and encourage them to do the same.
I want to encourage all of you today to speak life to people and speak any truth you must tell in love and in the right place - not on Twitter or Facebook. Speaking life and truth in love goes a lot further than careless words. I also want to encourage you to pray for our president. Praying for him does not mean agreeing with him nor condoning his actions or the things he says. I certainly have not and will not condone many of the things he has said. I have even gone as far as to Tweet him and respond respectfully and kindly when I did not agree and I will continue to do so.
Our words matter!! Our thoughts and our writing matter!! They matter to God and they matter to others!! Choose your words wisely and speak carefully. People are listening!
Daily choosing my words wisely,
Elizabeth