Words

"Words can build you up

Words can break you down

Start a fire in your heart or

Put it out." (1)

         

As the above lyrics by Hawk Nelson suggest, words are very powerful.  You can use your words to mean well or do harm.  You can only control your own words, no one else's.  Giving somebody a compliment is one way to build people up and encourage them, while giving them a harsh rebuke or criticism tears that person down.  Now, this doesn't include constructive criticism, far from it.  For instance I needed some constructive criticism to write this article and I was glad to receive it.  Solomon writes in Proverbs 15:31 "If you listen to constructive criticism you will be at home among the wise."  Yet a person giving a harsh criticism to someone else is just not right because you never will be able to tell how that person might handle it.

           

                In Ephesians 4:29 it says "Don't use foul or abusive language.  Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them."  It's good to give someone good advice, even hard advice, which may come out like a criticism but in truth really isn't.  The difference lies with the listener on how they will perceive it.  Sometimes you might say something and mean it to be funny, but it isn't perceived that way.  They might think you meant something completely different, and if that's the case they should say so and you can apologize to them wholeheartedly.  Or you may say something in a question that the person you're talking to may take it to mean as an accusation.  Again it's up to the person you're speaking with to express whether or not the question is coming off differently than what the speaker meant it to be.

                The devil loves to confuse our minds, and we innocently or not so innocently allow it to happen far too often.  Always be watchful for the devil's attempt to disrupt your words.

               Another form of words that are harmful is swearing.  Exodus 20:7 states "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."  This is the third commandment, and it is the easiest broken.  When people get frustrated confused or angry, swearing is one way of letting their frustration out.  Now that might seem okay at the moment, but then you get that guilty feeling and you know that you should repent.  I have to do this myself a lot.  Am I proud of that?  Absolutely not; I feel ashamed and repent almost immediately.  Other times I have to cool down some before I repent, for my heart needs to be in the right place; if it isn't, then I'm not going to feel any peace washing over me.

                  Some people take that to the extreme and say you are not allowed to say anything that resembles a curse word.  Words like darn, daggone, dad-gum or dang it, to name a few.  I use these words, sometimes I say them when I don't need to and I'm working on that, for they easily could be used in the meaning of a swear word.  If you are guilty of this then you should repent too.  I personally consider the "f" word and "s" words as curse words, and the use of "Jesus Christ" as a swear word really disturbs me!  That is so dangerous my friends, for Christ is not to be taken lightly and cussing his name out is of Satan.  Consider this perspective: How would you like it if someone said your name as a curse word?  Go ahead, try it out; say a sentence where you use Jesus's name as a swear word but put your name in there instead.  Get my point?  Alright, now let's move onto a few other words such as d--n, s.o.b., b---h and b-----d to point out a few.  These words are offensive to God!  Period.  End Of Discussion. Put Out The Cat. Lights Out. Done.  Yet so many people still continue to curse in their everyday speech.  Some don't know any better, for they were not taught that that when they were young.  But for those of us who claim to be Christians, we do know better, for when we accepted Jesus's sacrifice we did away with our old selves and, as such, our old speech.

                Paul mentions in Colossians 3:8, "But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander and dirty language."  Those who do know better may not curse around certain people they know, such as their church family, while they might use those words outside of church.  It doesn't matter where we use them, one set of ears will always hear what comes out of your mouth.
                     Jesus says in Matthew 15:10-11, "Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. "Listen," he said, "and try to understand.  It's not what goes into your mouth that defiles you; you are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth."
                      I know that it grieves Him deeply when people swear, so when I swear I repent because I don't want to become callous in that area and offend people by just letting something slip that's completely uncalled for.  When Christians are trying to be a good witness to the world, they will make an impact, now matter how how great or small it is.  But when a Christian is trying to witness and starts dropping f-bombs or s-bombs, they will lose their hearer immediately, for they think "Wait a minute, if he's swearing it must mean he isn't practicing what he's preaching."  And then that Christian has lost any ground in trying to witness to the others around them.  That's a scary thought.

                       So before you speak, examine your words.

Let my words be life
Let my words be truth
I don't wanna say a word
Unless it points the world back to You (1)
              
                       I want my words to be clean so that if Jesus were standing right next to me and I said something, He would smile.  I would not want Him to shake his head saying, "That hurts when you say that."  Or think about it like this, when you stand before the Judgement Seat, would you like God to read of all the accounts you have that include your foul language?  I know I certainly wouldn't  In Matthew 12:36-37 Jesus says, "And I tell you this, you must give an account on Judgment day for every idle word you speak.  The words you say will either aquit you or condemn you."

                       There's an old famous saying, What Would Jesus Do?  Would Jesus start throwing f-bombs at the drop of a coin?  Not of course not!  And neither should we.

(1) Words by Hawk Nelson
All scripture references are from the NLT Version