Monday, July 8, 2013 [Life or Death]
The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences. (Proverbs 18:21, NLT)
The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. (Proverbs 18:21, NIV)
Words have power – they can bring death (curses) or life (blessings). The person that loves to speak curses will eat of the fruit of those curses. The person that loves to speak blessings will eat of the fruit of those blessings. How we use our words is a choice that we need not take lightly.
I was with a group of friends recently when the conversation between us became really sarcastic. Noticing the change in the tone we paused and looked up the history (etymology) of the word sarcasm. It comes from a word that literally means "to strip off the flesh." This gave us a picture, that whenever we are sarcastic with one another it's like we are stripping the flesh off of one another. That was pretty sobering. The sarcasm among us was not blessing us – it was tearing us apart.
Who doesn't need a word of encouragement or a word of blessing? No one likes to be discouraged. So why not bless people?
What is the heart of God concerning blessings and curses?
Here are a few observations from Bill Ligon…
- God's first act after creating Adam and Eve was to speak a blessing over them (Genesis 1:27-28, "…male and female he created them. God blessed them…"). The priority that God gives the blessing is an indicator of its importance
- God blesses so that we can be blessings (Genesis 12:2, "I will bless you…you will be a blessing.")
- Blessing is a part of breaking the curse that actually shows us to be children of God, when we do it (Matthew 5:44-45, "…bless those who curse you…that you may be sons of your Father in heaven…").
- Blessing is a calling of God (1 Peter 3:9, "Don't repay evil for evil. Don't retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will bless you for it.")
"Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers" (Ephesians 4:29, NKJV).
For every word that is spoken, one person to another, there are at least two people that hear it – the person being spoken to and the person doing the speaking. Corrupt words corrupt the hearer and the speaker. But, gracious words minister grace to them both. I confess that I have failed at consistently speaking words of blessing. However, in every situation every day we have to choose our words – whether they be of life or of death. Each day is a clean slate. Lord, help us to choose carefully and to speak blessings.
No comments:
Post a Comment