THE POWER OF WORDS
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” Do you really believe that? It is contrary to scripture and mental health research. There is great power in words. They are greater than brute force with the exception that they can’t directly take another person’s life, though they can order it done. One can be a paraplegic and still have great power with the words he or she speaks.
A king of Heracleopolis said to his son, who was his successor: Be skillful in speech, that you may be strong…Words are braver than all fighting.” He said this in 2040 B.C.
A flattering tongue:
Psalm 5:9 - For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue.
Psalm 12:3 - May the Lord silence all flattering lips and every boastful tongue—
Psalm 36:2 - In their own eyes they flatter themselves too much to detect or hate their sin.
Psalm 78:35-37 - They remembered that God was their Rock,
that God Most High was their Redeemer.
36 But then they would flatter him with their mouths,
lying to him with their tongues;
37 their hearts were not loyal to him,
they were not faithful to his covenant.
Proverbs 18:13 - To answer before listening—that is folly and shame.
Proverbs 26:28 - A lying tongue hates those it hurts, and a flattering mouth works ruin.
Proverbs 28:23 - Whoever rebukes a person will in the end gain favor rather than one who has a flattering tongue.
Proverbs 29:5 - Those who flatter their neighbors are spreading nets for their feet.
Romans 16:18 - For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.
1 Thessalonians 2:5 - You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness.
Jude 1:16 - These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.
A proud or boastful tongue:
Psalm 73:9 - Their mouths lay claim to heaven,
and their tongues take possession of the earth.
A lying tongue:
Psalm 5:9 - Not a word from their mouth can be trusted;
their heart is filled with malice.
Their throat is an open grave;
with their tongues they tell lies.
Ps. 109:2 - for people who are wicked and deceitful
have opened their mouths against me;
they have spoken against me with lying tongues.
Psalm 120:3 - What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?
Prov. 6:16-19: There are six things the Lord hates,
seven that are detestable to him:
17 haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
19 a false witness who pours out lies
and a person who stirs up conflict in the community. Proverbs 17:4 - A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips; and a liar giveth ear to a naughty tongue.
Proverbs 21:6 - The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death.
A deceitful tongue:
Psalm 120:2 - Save me, Lord, from lying lips and from deceitful tongues.
A perverted tongue:
Prov 10:31-32 - The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: but the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness.
Prov. 15:4 - A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.
A soothing tongue:
Prov. 15:1 - A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger. The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright:
Colossians 4:6 - Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.
A healing tongue:
Prov. 12:18 – There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health.
An angry tongue:
Psalm 37:8 - Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.
Eph. 4:26 - “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.
Prov. 15:1 - A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.
Proverbs 25:23 - The north wind driveth away rain: so doth an angry countenance a backbiting tongue.
A sharp tongue:
Psalm 140:3 - They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders' poison is under their lips.
A destructive, untamable tongue:
James 3:2-13 For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. 3 Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. 4 Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. 5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
7 For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: 8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. 11 Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? 12 Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.
13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
James 4:11 (NIV) - Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it.
James 1:26 (NIV) - Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.
Prov 17:4 A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips; and a liar giveth ear to a naughty tongue.
Proverbs 21:23 - Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.
A mischievous & wicked tongue:
Psalm 10:7 - His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.
Proverbs 17:4 - A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips; and a liar giveth ear to a naughty tongue.
Psalm 34:13 - Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.
Psalm 50:19 - Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit.
Exodus 20:7 - “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
A soft tongue:
Proverbs 25:15 - By long forbearing is a prince persuaded, and a soft tongue breaketh the bone.
A backbiting tongue:
Proverbs 25:23 - The north wind driveth away rain: so doth an angry countenance a backbiting tongue.
A slanderous tongue:
I Peter 2:1 - Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.
2 Cor. 12:20 - “For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.” Did you notice how most, if not all, of these vices spawn from words.
James 4:11-12 - Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you--who are you to judge your neighbor?
A wise tongue:
Proverbs 12:18 - There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health.
Proverbs 15:2 - The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright:
Isaiah 50:4 (NIV) - The Lord God hath given me the tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary.
Gossiping:
That’s another lesson in and of itself. I tore a clip out of a newsletter that goes like this:
Mrs. Brown: “She told me that you told her the secret that I told you not to tell her!”
Mrs. Blue: “That mean thing! I told her not to tell you I told her.”
Mrs. Brown: “Well, don’t tell her that I told you she told me.”
We’ve all done this, haven’t we, probably more so when we were young. By now we’ve learned the hard way the damage that gossip does, and we don’t like to be on the receiving end of it.
2 Corinthians 12:20 - “For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.”
Snared by words:
Matthew 12:36-37 – our own words snare us.
Proverbs 6:2 – Ensnared by vows & promises spoken but not kept.
Justified or Condemned?:
Matt. 12:34-37 – by your words you will be justified and condemned.
1 Corinthians 6:11 - And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Galatians 2:16-17 - know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified. 17 “But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! Galatians 3:11 - Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.”
Galatians 3:24 - So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith.
Galatians 5:4 - You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.
Guard your lips and you will guard your life:
Ps. 141:3 - "Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips." I kept that verse posted on my refrigerator for years.
Prov 13:3 - "He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin." This is one that keeps me from speaking so impulsively:
Who, what, when, why, where and how we should speak, as Christians:
To whom:
Ezekiel 33:8-9 When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you will surely die,' and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. 9 But if you do warn the wicked man to turn from his ways and he does not do so, he will die for his sin, but you will have saved yourself.
What & Where:
Mark 16:15 - He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
When:
Ephesians 5:16 - making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
Why:
Titus 2:7 In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness 8 and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.
How:
Col 4:6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
Colossians 4:5 - Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.
