The Power Of Words
Proverbs 18:21 (NIV)
‘The tongue has the power of life and death,
and those who love it will eat its fruit.’
These past months, God has been teaching me about the significance of words. The ones we speak, the ones we listen too, the ones we make authoritative. As this verse declares, words hold the power to build us up or destroy us, to draw those around us into life, or to crush their spirits. Either way, Scripture is clear - the impact of our words is often far greater than we realise.
I must admit a careful choice of words isn’t something that comes naturally to me. I talk, I rant, I laugh, I tell stories and I talk nonsense a LOT of the time and too often I let words fly out of my mouth with very little thought. What I’m learning though, is that the Bible compels us to exercise far more thought and wisdom in the words we use than is common in the culture around us.
A few weeks ago I was feeling tired and frustrated with myself, probably giving myself very little grace, when I stumbled upon this verse in Matthew 12:20 that made me realise that the way I speak to myself and sometimes to others is not how Jesus does. “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out”.
In that moment, I felt Jesus speak words of strength and compassion over me, not a rebuke.
Jesus, who has a stronger conviction of what is wrong than any of us - like flip-the-tables-in-the-temple level conviction - still shows a gentleness in the way he loves and transforms us. He doesn’t shout, or use harsh words, instead he demonstrates his love in humility, compassion and patience.
In Galatians 5 we learn that gentleness and self-control are fruits of the Spirit. Reading these passages got me thinking how often I have confused gentleness with weakness and have just wanted to air my own opinions or bash the brokenness out of people with words. This week, I believe Jesus is reminding us to make sure our words are cultivating life not death, gentle rather than condemning, speaking truth in love.
Prayer – Lord Jesus, thank you that you speak life over me. Father, would you help me to be more attentive to my words this week, to speak with gentleness and wisdom in all of my conversations.