The Weight Of Words

Anyone who knows me well knows that I love words.
Scrabble games, blogging, poetry, reading. Really anything word related.
It's a strange thing to love but I do.
I love what you can do with them.
I love how you can put different words together and make them flow so beautifully it makes people stop and really ponder what's been said or written. Words put together correctly can make people laugh, they can make people cry, they can draw people into a story and make them want to read something over and over again because of the beauty of them.
I'm that way with the book of Psalms. When I read a Psalm I am in wonder at the beauty of them, the way the words flow so beautifully as they relay such a powerful message.
Proverbs, another book full of beautiful words, says this about words spoken well.
Pleasant words are like a honeycomb,
Sweetness to the soul and health to the bones. Proverbs 16:24
Words are very cool, indeed.
Words are also very powerful.
With just a few words we can build up or we can tear down. All from opening our mouth.
You can do pretty much anything you want with the power of words.
James 3 talks about the words we speak. He says in verses 5-8
Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things.
See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
Pretty powerful stuff, that.
Words, as beautiful as they are can just as easily be used for evil as they can for good.
In fact, sometimes they are lethal weapons.
Psalms 55:21 says it this way-
The words of his mouth were smoother than butter,
But war was in his heart;
His words were softer than oil,
Yet they were drawn swords.
And Psalms 64:3 says
Who sharpen their tongue like a sword,
And bend their bows to shoot their arrows—bitter words,
We’ve all heard the saying, “Sticks and Stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” LIE!
Sometimes words hurt more than sticks and stones ever could and leave just as permanent a scar.
We know this and yet we act like we don’t really care. We spout off things without even thinking the effect they will have in the heat of the moment and then later we see we have hurt someone. Most often that someone is a person we love. A lot of times it’s a spouse.
When we go around using our words for destructive purposes, either knowingly or unknowingly, we are really showing a part of ourselves that we probably wouldn’t want others to see if we thought about it.
Matthew 12:34 says, For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.
Do our words reflect a good heart? Or do they show other people that there’s something in our hearts that is ugly and sinful?
We say we are Christians, we praise God and tell other people about Him. But as James says in 3:9-10
With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.
Sadly, too often, it’s very much the case. We don’t always intend it to be so, but it ends up being that way. When we say we are Christians but speak words not befitting His name, what are we really saying in light of the fact that words reflect our heart?
Knowing how easily we slip up and our tongues get the best of us, Paul warned us in Ephesians 4:29
Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.
And again in Colossians 4:6 he reminds us
Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
I have a note beside that verse in my bible that says this-

Our conversation should be such as to show we are governed and under the influence of God’s love and grace. It should exemplify and recommend Christ. It should be holy, wise and gracious no matter the topic, no matter the emotion.

I think I should memorize that one. What about you?
No matter the topic? No matter the emotion????? Ouchie.
Our words shouldn’t be dictated entirely by our emotion. They should be controlled by the spirit of God.
If we would pray for this in our lives, If that were to be the case, our words would be beautiful. They would make people stop and ponder the beauty of them. They would be sweetness to the soul and health to the bones to those around us.
They would build up and encourage, they would bless and not curse, they would impart grace and not grief and most important, they would point others to Christ. No matter the topic, no matter the emotion.
With that in mind, I say with the Psalmist in 19:14

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

Be acceptable in Your sight,

O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.