Powerful Words; Life and Death to Our World

One word can change everything. One word can bring hope, relief, or resolution. A word can also carry a message of disappointment, discouragement, and  rejection. Perhaps you are at a crossroads needing a word of direction, or standing at a dead end waiting to hear a word of hope. Sometimes our lives can even seem to be on hold as we wait for that one word.King Solomon wrote "death and life are in the power of the tongue." (Proverbs 18:21) He got it. We don't have to live long to have our hearts broken or lifted by the words of another. Each of us have an incredibly powerful tool at our disposal, and it is a two-sided coin. Our words can both revive and destroy, encourage and discourage, build and destroy, love and hate, accept and reject, relieve and burden, bless and curse.I think how striking a match could be the answer to one freezing in the dark, desperate for a warm fire. That same spark on the carpet in the middle of the night could mean devastation and death. How could God entrust us with such a tool? James wondered the same thing when he wrote: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! (James 3:5-9 The Message)My heart grieves when I consider the pain I have caused with my own words, spoken out of selfish reaction and not gentle response; unbridled by the Spirit of God, unfiltered by the love of Jesus. My human heart also  bears the scars of hurtful words spoken to me, words that became part of a false identity I assumed until I found freedom.Our world needs a word today. Broken and hurting, rejected and insecure; their desperate ears lean in to hear love from you and I. Within us we carry the gospel; good news. In our Spirits, where the righteousness of Jesus was applied, live His words of encouragement, acceptance, freedom, hope, purpose, and forgiveness.In our stress, in our disagreements, in our beliefs on theology and politics, in our plans for our own lives, they still need to hear the same good news. In their own mistakes and blindness, in the midst of their messes, in their questions and doubts, they still need the same gospel.If I shake a bottle of Dr. Pepper, Sprite will not spew and spill out on my carpet. Dr. Pepper will come out of a bottle that is full of Dr Pepper. In the same way James compares our words coming forth from the fountain within us:My friends, this can’t go on. A spring doesn’t gush fresh water one day and brackish the next, does it? Apple trees don’t bear strawberries, do they? Raspberry bushes don’t bear apples, do they? You’re not going to dip into a polluted mud hole and get a cup of clear, cool water, are you?  Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here’s what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn’t wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn’t wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn’t wisdom. It’s the furthest thing from wisdom—it’s animal cunning, devilish conniving. Whenever you’re trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others’ throats. Real wisdom, God’s wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor. (verses 10-18)Our world is listening. They want truth wrapped up in love. Don't we want the same? I will hear you, I will open my heart and mind to listen if you speak to me in love. But if you come at me with arrogance and a tone of judgement, forget it. No thanks. Luke tells us that, "out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks."Our savior, Jesus Christ, has placed his Spirit in us to speak on his behalf to a dying world. What are we saying today with our words and attitudes, our posts and tweets? Are we speaking the truth in love, answering our neighbor with gentleness and respect as God asks of us? (Ephesians 4:15, 1 Peter 3:15) Are we responding to our children and spouses out of an overflow of grace?Lost and messy people are not our enemy. We don't battle against flesh and blood, so our words should be grace-filled, good-news kind of words, right?