by Julee Delp
People who know me well know that I love words! I do – I am a little nerdy that way. Reading, writing, word games, learning new vocabulary- all of those are enjoyable pastimes. When I was growing up my siblings used to tease me about sounding like a dictionary. Words and how we use them are important to me.
However, as much as I enjoy words, I often forget how powerful words truly are. We use them for everything! Written and spoken, words abound.
Throughout the Bible, we are told over and over that the words we say are powerful. The book of Proverbs in particular holds an abundance of wisdom (and warning) concerning the power of the tongue.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits. | Proverbs 18:21
In everyday life, we don’t tend to think of the words we say as powerful. In fact, many times we assume that the words we say are fleeting, or sometimes ignored entirely. However, we can often remember in detail the times in our life when another person used their words, intentionally or unintentionally, and hurt us deeply. A well-known passage in the book of James reminds us:
So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. | James 3:5-6
That is some pretty serious verbage! A word out of your mouth may seem meaningless, but it can accomplish nearly anything. I don’t stop often enough and consider the seriousness of the words I say. They have the ability to deeply hurt others, or to encourage them. They have the ability to point the people around me towards Jesus, or turn them away.
Unlike words that come from anywhere else, we can depend on God’s word to be completely true. God’s Word reminds us that our words, written or spoken, reflect what is in our hearts.
But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. | Matthew 15:18
The words that we say are intertwined with the thoughts that we think and the emotions that we feel. If I am annoyed or stressed about something or angry with someone, that will most likely reveal itself in the words that I say.
The words from my mouth overflow from what is in my heart. This knowledge can be hard. My heart in its natural state is wicked. It wants to say exactly what I am thinking, to wound when I am wounded. Thank God for Christ’s redemptive power! In the daily struggle for speech seasoned with grace, we can turn to him.
How does this look practically? Two main actions come to mind:
- Evaluate our words. Ask God to help us assess the words we use in our daily life. In what areas do we struggle to use our words as Christ wants us to use them? In interactions with coworkers? Our spouse? Our children?
- Pray that God would guide us by his Holy Spirit to speak the words he wants us to speak! Repent of the times that we use our words in thoughtless ways, or to hurt others. Our God wants our words to honor him, and by his power he will give us the grace to speak in ways that reflect our status as his children. The book of Ephesians gives us some wonderful guidelines:
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. | Ephesians 4:29
There will be times of failure, when we forget the power of our words to hurt those around us. But if we continue to give our hearts fully to God and ask him for a desire to love and serve him, this will overflow from our hearts and into our words. We can pray as David prayed in the Psalms,
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. | Psalm 19:14-15
Julee Delp is a member of Living Hope Church. She attends with her husband, Josh, and their three children.
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