Be Careful Little Mouth What You Say
Did you know that words have the power of life and death? As I sit here writing this blog, I am thinking about the weight that my words carry. Yet, Christians, including myself, are not always this mindful of the impact of our words. Just to prove my point, let me give you a few personal examples:
Negative Experience:
I was in high school. I hadn’t had
my driver’s license long and I decided that I was going to go to church. This
was before I was really invested in my faith. As I walked in the door, alone, I
just wanted to sit down. I was feeling a little overwhelmed and nervous. I
remember looking for an empty spot and darting toward it. As I sat down,
someone approached me and said, “you are in ________’s seat, would you mind
moving up a row?” While this doesn’t seem like an unreasonable request or rude
thing to say it really discouraged me for a while. I left that morning and
didn’t go back to church the next Sunday. It seemed like something harmless for
them to say, but to me it made me feel unwelcome and awkward.
Positive Experience:
At the same church as above, there
is an individual who has always gone out of their way to make me feel so welcome.
He has a huge, powerful smile as he sees you walk in the door. He says things
like “It is so good to see you!” I see him there every Sunday worshiping and
praying with his family. On many occasions, he has said things like “there is a
class upstairs with a lot of young, married couples if you ever want a change
in scenery.” Or back when I was in high school, he would say things like “the
youth are going on a trip to _______, if you would like to go, we would love to
have you.” Each time he was welcoming, but not pushy.
As I proofread the first draft of this post, my husband was
listening as I read out loud. He laughed a bit and said you are going to make a
lot of Baptists mad if you post that. I thought for a second remembering my
words have power too. So, I wanted to pause here to let you know that this is
not my intent. I just want to remind everyone that our words can be so powerful
even when we think they are not. They are either going to influence someone to
love God and walk toward him or they have the ability to foster negativity and
push people away from the church and subsequently, God.
Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the
tongue: and they that love it shall eat fruit thereof.
Proverbs 18:19 A brother offended is harder to be won
than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle.
This is a point that is driven home over and over again in
the Bible; therefore, I think it is only appropriate to continue to discuss it
further. So, let’s talk about one of my most regretted moments.
I was in middle school, and truthfully,
I thought I was pretty cool. I rode the bus to and from school and I sat in the
very back because like I said I was cool. In the middle of the bus, there was
this girl who loved to sing. She would sing the entire time she was on the bus.
A group of students, myself included, would pick on her daily and tell her she couldn’t
sing. Truthfully, she was a great singer we just got tired of listening to her
all the time. As I reflect on this low point in my life, I wonder if this girl
still sings. Does she get up in front of the church and use the gift God gave
her or does she hide it because of the mean things we used to say to her? I
think about how my words may not have just affected her. I think about how if she
is hiding her gift someone in the church who would have heard a beautiful song
come out of her and repent might not ever hear that song. Her voice could have gotten
the word of God out to so many, but did a few comments from the kids at the
back of the bus have the ability to silence her forever? Absolutely, words have
the power of life and death remember.
I tell you this, to show that I am by no means pointing the finger
at other Christians. I, too, am at fault for using my tongue to say some pretty
bad things.
Matthew 7:5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam
out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out
of thy brother’s eye.
I want to close out this post on a positive note. So, let’s
talk about what we should be doing with our words.
o
1 Thessalonians 5:11 Therefore encourage one
another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing
·
Treat people like Jesus loves them
o
Romans 15:5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement
give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had.
·
Spread the word of God
o
Mark 16:15 And he said to them, “Go into all the
world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.
·
Spread positivity and good works
o
Matthew 5:16 In the same way, let your light
shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to
your Father who is in heaven.
·
Pray and sing praise
o
James
5:13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him
sing praise.
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