Excuse Me, What Did You Say?

The power of the spoken word.

Thousands of words fly out of our mouths every day. We don’t even remember most of them.

Some are pleasant but unimportant (e.g., “Nice to see you.”)

Some are meaningful and impactful (e.g., “You are special to me.”)

Some are capable of piercing your soul (e.g., “You will never amount to anything.”)

A person’s heart can be shattered by someone saying, “I hate you.”

And it can be put back together with “I love you.”

Solomon, Israel’s wisest king, conveyed the power of words in Proverbs 18:21, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.”

In light of this, we will be accountable for what we say.

God warns us in Matthew 12:36 (NKJV), “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.”

Once words are said, they cannot be unsaid.

How many times have we blurted out things to make ourselves feel better without considering the hurt it will cause?

The damage is never fully repaired. Even with an apology and forgiveness, the memory is rarely forgotten.

Most of us can remember something painful someone said to us as a child.

Those things stick with us. Unfortunately, they become a part of us.

James 1:26 says, “If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.”

The Christian’s bar is set higher because we are children of the King.

Despite our good intentions, we won’t be perfect. There are plenty of opportunities to fail each day.

We need God’s help to choose the right words from a pure heart. (See Psalm 51:10)

I encourage you to examine your heart. I will do the same.

Let’s both do better today with how we speak, especially to those we love.

Let’s ask for forgiveness when we fail. We all do.

For more instruction about our words, see Proverbs 16:24, Ephesians 4:29, Proverbs 18:4, Proverbs 21:23