by Aanya Rose

Created on: November 25, 2010

How Your Words Can Affect Other People’s Lives

The tongue, why, it is a wild thing; you can be the best of friends or enemies, so I would advise you tame it soon and you are likely to be on the right hand side of God. Hold it dear, close to your heart; and pray the Lord it never departs; for wise men know that trouble brews when tongue and teacher leave for a weekend cruise on the isle of beastly remarks…

In the beginning was the WORD and the WORD was with GOD and the WORD was God. Words are very powerful. They were created to build people up in love. They are meant to be loving and useful. Words are powerful. What comes out of the breath of life manifests into life, for good or for evil. It is critical when using the word that we pay attention to what we speak. Since the tongue is the instrument of the mouth, from which the word is spoken, we must take great care to consider our tongue and words carefully, so that we use them to show love and respect for the lives of people around us.

Jesus commanded us to love our neighbors; Jesus is the Word. If we believe in love, we know that are Words can impact people in a kind and loving manner.

You can use your words to curse people or bless people. I would advise you use it to bless people. The bible has lots to say about the tongue, and its many uses of the Word. It can corrupt the Word of God, and it can frame it in love, as was the intent.

Proverbs 25:18 says the tongue when used as a vehicle for lying is as a deadly weapon. Satan is after all the father of all lies. “A man that bears false witness against his neighbor is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow.” God hates lying tongues more than anything, and as revealed in Revelation 21:8, liars will be burnt in the lake of brimstone and fire. Ouch! Not somewhere I would like to visit anywhere soon.

Some people mistakenly believe words of flattery endear others to them, but this can also become a weapon of destruction, especially when flattery enables one to commit sin. Flattery is lying disguised as fluff, as Psalm 5:9 point out, “For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness…they flatter with their tongue.”

Puffing up also can come in the form of pride, and overuse. The fool, sometimes referred to as the court jester, tends to use their tongue too much, which is why it is far better to keep things simple than to go on and on and on. That’s why most of the time a good pastor speaks simply. He can say, “Love!” That says a lot. He can say, “Repent!” That says plenty. No decent pastor has to write 20 books to describe the kingdom of heaven. The bible is plenty.

Have you ever seen the huge mega church pastors on television that don’t have much to say about God, but have a lot to say about how great they are as a pastor? That would be an example of the court jester. Be careful of your words, because they may come back to bite you. Pray for these people, and show them love, because that is what good people do with the word, when they use words correctly.

In Ecclesiastes there is a saying that there is no end to the number of books one can read. The same book of the bible says “Be not rash with thy mouth.” The words you use can build someone up or tear them down. Let us then think before we speak, and use words wisely, to bless and not to curse, to love and not to hate. This is the way the Word was in the beginning, and will be in the end and forever.

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