I don’t think we, as humans, realize how creative our words are, whether toward the negative or the positive. I think this goes deeper than we would like. It’s a wonderful thing to know that voicing the Word of God is so creative, and that our prayers are effective, but will we realize that same power can be focused in the negative direction? I believe that Jesus is making this point in Matthew 5:22.
“But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.”
It is pretty harsh to say that calling someone a fool would be grounds to go to hell, but I think Jesus is teaching us here that doing so is not an action without consequence. We think very little about calling people, including ourselves, all sorts of names—most of which are quite a bit stronger than “fool!” But if we think that our words are creative on the positive side, do we think we can just turn off that power when we want to complain about someone?
James 3:3-5 uses some great analogies to teach us about the power of the tongue:
Now if we put the bits into the horses’ mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well. Look at the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires. So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it aboasts of great things. See how great a forest is set flame by such a small fire!
Our lives are like a ship upon the water, and our tongues are the rudder, directing where it goes. But know this: you pilot the rudder. If we catch ourselves steering down the wrong path, we would be surprised how quickly things change if we simply choose to change direction and speak the Word of God.
So what are you going to say today?
Posted in Pastor's Blog