Words are a gift. I received cards from my kids for Father's Day and in them they jotted words that filled my heart with joy because they were affirming words of thanks and appreciation. Yesterday, during worship, we poured out words of praise to God in our songs and prayers. Our words blessed Heaven and brought us together in spiritual worship. The words that expressed the intent of our heart and mind became words of life! In my pastoral work, I use words to encourage and instruct in both private conversations and public preaching. You're reading along today in this TFTD, my thoughts flowing into your mind by means of words - which hopefully are edifying.
Then, there are words that carry a curse! This morning, in my email, I learned of an occasion of slanderous gossip that had caused some dear friends to be distressed, embarrassed, and faced with the need to explain and defend themselves unnecessarily. Those were destructive words. I've heard parents use words that destroy. I cringe when I hear a parent label their child as stupid, or bad, or with similar pejorative labels. On school playgrounds kids chant, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me!" But that isn't not true. Words can hurt, badly. You know that, and so do I.
What kinds of words flow from your lips? Proverbs contains some great lines about gossip. Take a look.
Proverbs 16:28 A troublemaker plants seeds of strife; gossip separates the best of friends.
Proverbs 18:8 Listening to gossip is like eating cheap candy; do you really want junk like that in your belly?
Proverbs 26:20 When you run out of wood, the fire goes out; when the gossip ends, the quarrel dies down.
Paul sets a goal for each one of us in the use of our words. Romans 14:19 So let’s agree to use all our energy in getting along with each other. Help others with encouraging words.
How do we go from idle, death dealing gossip to encouraging words that bring life? With a genuine change of heart!
Jesus reminds us that our words don't spring from nowhere! They flow up from our inner most person, and are the revelation of the content of our heart, our thought life. A person who is mean, who spreads slanderous gossip, tells the world- "I have a heart that is empty of positive, Spirit-inspired life." This is my own experience. When I am depleted in spirit and have not renewed my strength in prayerful conversation with the Holy Spirit, I become a critical, difficult man. The overflow of my lips becomes ugly, negative, and demeaning to others. When I am filled with the Spirit, in the same situation, I am capable of encouraging, of speaking honestly, yet lovingly and with the goal of edifying others.
The answer to gossip and critical speech is not a padlock on the lips; it is confession of sin which allows the Holy Spirit to transform our mind.
Have you fallen into a pattern of gossip that destroys, that relates the worst, but seldom the best about others? Repent! Yes, friend, it's not just 'human' or 'normal,' it is a sin against God and others. Treat it as such. Pray instead that God will transform your words. Pray that it will be life, not death, that results from your conversations.
Let me leave you with a lengthy passage today for your meditation. It's packed with pithy wisdom! May God use it to challenge each one of us about the power of our words so that we will use them to build up the Kingdom.
"We all make many mistakes, but those who control their tongues can also control themselves in every other way. We can make a large horse turn around and go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. And a tiny rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot wants it to go, even though the winds are strong. So also, the tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do.
A tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is full of wickedness that can ruin your whole life. It can turn the entire course of your life into a blazing flame of destruction, for it is set on fire by hell itself. People can tame all kinds of animals and birds and reptiles and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It is an uncontrollable evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it breaks out into curses against those who have been made in the image of God. And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!
Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water?" (James 3:2-11, NLT)
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