Words- what power!

I heard two kinds of speech yesterday. In a memorial service, I heard words that were healing, hopeful, encouraging, and life-giving. Friends and family members told their stories about a humble man who loved the Lord and who showed his love for them in ordinary, yet wonderful, ways. As our tears fell together, healing for sorrowful hearts began. With just words, vivid pictures were painted in our minds of a man nick-named "Tiny" who would be better remembered as a giant for his willingness to do whatever was necessary to get the job done.

In a different setting, I overheard thoughtless words that cut deep. They weren't even about me, but they hurt me in their casual cruelty. Two people were discussing another's 'failure.' "If it were me, I know I would... Can you imagine not doing... It's just a shame..." I was saddened that the comments made by two professed Christians were so graceless. Since I know that the person they were discussing is going through an incredibly difficult time of life, I also knew that even if the lapses they asserted were true, there would ample reasons to extend understanding and grace. But their words revealed that they were absorbed by their own concerns to the extent that they could not empathize with the needs of the one they were destroying in their conversation.

James challenges us to remember the power of our words. He writes:
"A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it! It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.
This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can’t tame a tongue—it’s never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth! My friends, this can’t go on." (James 3:5-10, The Message).

It is true! Our tongues are wild, untamable things. Changing what we say on our own is impossible. Why? Because our speech reveals our heart, our deepest values and most private thoughts will eventually bubble to the surface if we babble on long enough. No one can make his heart new by his own efforts. If we are self-absorbed, insecure, or mean; it will always show up in our conversations.

That is why we need Jesus! He is a heart specialist. When His grace and love full into us and when we cultivate a day to day intimacy with the Holy Spirit, we are changed- from the inside out! I love the down-home illustration that our Lord used to make this point. “A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. A tree is identified by the kind of fruit it produces. Figs never grow on thornbushes or grapes on bramble bushes. A good person produces good deeds from a good heart, and an evil person produces evil deeds from an evil heart. Whatever is in your heart determines what you say. (Luke 6:43-45, NLT) What fruit will others pick from your conversations today?

Listen to your words. Do they lift others up or tear them down? Do they encourage or take away hope? If you need to be honest about another's sin or failings, do your words reflect a gentleness that helps that person aspire to do better or are they crushing and judgmental?

Need to tame that tongue? Then get with Jesus and pray for a changed heart. Ask Him to wash out bitterness, envy, cynicism, unforgiveness, even hatred - replacing those evil fruits with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and good.

Use that gift of speech to bless others and to cause those around you to thank God for His grace, expressed through YOU!
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