The Power of Tongue
The power and responsibility of the tongue is discussed several times in the Bible. As children of God, our tongues have a lot of power.
In Proverbs 18:21 “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”
In Jesus’ words himself in Matthew 18:18 said “Verily I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosened in heaven.”
But as a Christian we fail to live up to GOD’s words, we use our words very recklessly. Bible specifically says a lot about the way we should and should not speak. I rather would like to talk to you more about the things we should not say as mentioned in Proverbs 18:21.
We often mix our bad words with our bad moods and bad situations. We fail to control our emotions and end up saying things we do not mean for real but we do not understand that the words that come out of our mouth make an impact and an impact that is bad. We must understand that we might never get an opportunity to make it right again.
Bible in James 1:26 warns us that “If a person thinks that he is religious but cannot control his tongue, he is fooling himself. That person’s religion is worthless.
WHAT- ARE THE NEGATIVE THINGS WE DO WITH OUR TONGUE?
We lie
We curse – sometimes others and sometimes even ourselves
We slander
We gossip
We blame
We criticize
We bear false witness
We boast
We say things to spread hate
We take Lord’s name in vain
Our tongue in its untamed nature is a wild and deadly beast but when we tame our tongue it is as gentle as a lake and as soft as a flower. We must be quick to listen but slow to speak. Everyone knows that the tongue speaks only what is in the heart. I stress again that we must choose our words carefully.
Benjamin Franklin once said that “A slip of the foot you may soon recover, but a slip of the tongue you may never get over.”
Let us take a peek into our Bible and see what it says about all these things;
Lying
Telling lies about others is as harmful as hitting them with an axe, wounding them with a sword, or shooting them with a sharp arrow.”
Proverbs 25:18
Cursing
But whatever goes out of the mouth comes from within, and that’s what makes a person unclean. Evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual sins, stealing, lying and cursing come from within.
Matthew 15:18-19
Slander
But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it on the day of judgement.
Matthew 12:36
Gossip
“Without wood a fire goes out; without a gossip a quarrel dies down.”
Proverbs 26:20
Blame
Do not contend with a man without cause, if he has done you no harm.
Proverbs 3:30
Criticize
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
Ephesians 4:29
False Witness
A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will not escape.
Proverbs 19:5
Boast
Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice, and righteousness on earth, or in these I delight.
Jeremiah 9:23-24
Spread Hate
Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness.
1John 2:9
Taking LORD’S name in vain
You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
Exodus 20:7
THINGS WE MUST SAY
Now let us focus on the things we must do and say as a Christian
We must bless
We must encourage
We must build confidence in others
We must pray
We must proclaim GOD’s name to the world
We must share gospel
Bless
Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
Colossians 4:6
Encourage
The soothing tongue is a tree of life.
Proverbs 15:4
Build Confidence
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
Ephesians 4:29
Pray
Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
James 5:16
Proclaim GOD’S Love
Dear friends, let’s love each other, because love is from God, and everyone who loves is born from God and knows God. The person who doesn’t love does not know God, because God is love.
1John 4:7-8
Share Gospel
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.”
Matthew 28:18-20
Bible clearly mentions that an untamed heart is as dangerous as a deadly beast and we must take help from GOD and through HOLY SPIRIT GOD’S guidance we can use it to one’s benefit.
TAME THE TONGUE WITH THE HELP OF THE BIBLE
We can tame our tongue only and only by the help of GOD. We do not have the strength to do it by ourselves. We must carefully pick what kind of words we are going to use only to say good things about people. OUR COMFORTER, HOLY SPIRIT GOD enables us to speak gently when we ask him for help.
For example: A boy is not doing well in his math class, the teacher of the boy can talk to him in two ways
- You are good for nothing and nothing good can come out of you.
- I know you are trying but try to work a little harder so that you can do better.
If I was the teacher, I would choose to speak the latter to the boy so that I could encourage him a little and push him to do better for himself.
King David in Psalm 141:3 asks GOD to “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!”
In Psalm 19:14 he says “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”
Dear Reader, if you closely study Bible there are many more verses related to the power and responsibilities of the tongue but in my conclusion, I would like to say that GOD has paid a price for us on the cross and we belong to him. We have triumphed over death but we must not fall short of the grace of GOD by recklessly using bad words and curse ourselves or others as we do not even have power to turn the colour of a single hair strand. We must at all times guard our heart and tongue and use this life to bring only glory and honour to our LORD JESUS CHRIST. I hope and pray for you that you shall grow in gentleness of your tongue and watch people come alive through your kind words so that our GOD in heaven will smile at you. Amen!