Happy Saturday everyone. I hope that you are doing well and that are allowing God to be at work in your life.
I don’t know about you, but I am sick of all of the political ads. Most of them are absolutely horrible. Rarely do they talk about what they stand for. Rather, they simply trash their opponent and call them all sorts of things. Politics in the US has descended to the point of schoolyard bullying and name calling.
Maybe they have never learned the line from the children’s song that says, “Be careful little mouths what you say…” The reality is that the words that come from our mouths and from our keyboards are important. The person that made up the axiom that we learned as a kid was wrong. It went like this: “Sticks and stones may broke my bones, but words will never harm me.” While it was probably meant to be an encouragement to those that had been picked on, the truth of the matter is that it is just not correct. Words have the ability to cause much harm if not used properly. In James 3:4-6, the Bible warns us, “4 Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.” Yikes! That is pretty serious stuff. It should remind us to be careful with the things that we say.
Yes, words can be harmful. But they can also be encouraging. Think about the last time that someone gave you a compliment, told you that you looked nice or were doing a good job. I am confident that it made you feel good. One of the reasons the Lord has given us the ability to communicate is so that we encourage one another. We can say things to build one another up. I like what Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:11. In that verse, he is encouraging them to continue to be encouraging. He writes, “11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”
There are times when words are just fun. Over the course of time, the way we use certain words also change. Think of the different ways you have heard the words “cool” and “hot” used throughout the years. A long time ago, Michelle and I were at lunch with another couple. In the midst of the conversation, the word “indispose” was used. It is not a word that is used very often anymore so it took a moment to figure out what it meant in that context. That gave us all a good laugh. However, it is even funnier when you look up the actual meaning of the word. The definition is, “to make unfit or to make averse. The original definition was, “to cause to be in poor health.” None of which was the intent of the word in our conversation. Another example of this was when I was getting ready to baptize someone on a Sunday night at Fellowship International. When the person arrived, he was wearing a hat that said “Dope” across the front of it. Obviously, that was a first. When I was younger, if you were called a dope, that meant that you were not very smart. By the time I made it to high school the word was used for drugs. I was not sure either of those were good qualifications for someone to get baptized so I had to ask what the hat meant. He was quick to tell me that “dope” was a good thing, similar to being cool or hip. All of that is a good reminder that we need to try to be aware of the greater context in order to understand the words that are being used.
So what can we learn from all of this rambling? Probably not much. However, let us simply try to remember that our words matter. God has given us a great gift in that we can communicate with one another. Let us use our words to encourage each other, to teach, to build up, to offer direction, to warn, to admonish when needed, to comfort one another, and to make someone smile once in a while.
May the words of your mouth and the meditations of your heart be pleasing to the Lord. Have a great weekend!
From our neighborhood to the nations,
Pastor Larry
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