Watch Your Words
“Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear” (Ephesians 4:29)
Hello everyone! I hope this finds you walking in the strength of His joy.
We may have little appreciation for the power of our words. “Who am I?” we ask. It doesn’t matter what I say. My words don’t affect anybody.” But they do! They affect everyone we speak to-absolutely everyone. They have the power to help and heal, or the power to hurt and destroy. King Solomon wrote in Proverbs 12:18: “There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” Some professing Christians swing verbal swords, piercing the souls of other people, inflicting emotional wounds on their spouses, their children, their neighbors, store clerks, telephone operators, or anyone else who gets in their way.
The Apostle Paul penned an extended passage on the use of words in Ephesians 4:25-32. And in Ephesians 4:29 he summed up a number of good communication principles. Paul established two categories of communication in that verse: unwholesome words and edifying words. The first, he says, should be eliminated entirely from our verbal repertoire. There is no room for even a trace of it. We are to weed it all out, then replace it with the second. Obeying this command could vastly improve our ability to get along with each other.
We need to understand that what comes out of our mouth can truly hurt or edify. Words that are “cutting” or “nagging” or “vengeful” can bring great hurt to others. How many times have you been out in public and heard a husband cut his wife down with his words or vice a versa? It even makes those listening feel uncomfortable. If we call ourselves true Christians then we need to make sure we don’t just say it, but we also live it out with our words towards others.
It can be just as easy to replace unwholesome words with words that edify. I am talking about “gentle” or “understanding” or “appreciative” words. You wouldn’t believe how speaking these kinds of words can change a person’s day or week. They build people up and let them begin to see themselves as Christ really sees them.
So let’s begin this week to take the Word of God seriously and begin to weigh our words. Let’s weed out those words that damage people and cause relationships to decay. Let’s replace them with words that build up, meet needs, and minister gracious benefit to people’s lives. We will be the beneficiaries in the end as we experience the joy of harmonious relationships. After all, as it says in Colossians chapter 3, “If I have put on the new man, then I should put aside all anger, wrath, malice, slander and abusive speech from my mouth and never lie to anyone and lay aside all the old self with its evil practices.” So let’s covenant in our hearts each day to let our tongue be an instrument of grace and blessing and truth to all who hear us speak.
God Bless you this week and may you have a great week of edifying others!
Pastor Brad Tuttle
