City Life Starter

I. The Word

Ephesians 4:29

Do not let unwholesome [foul, profane, worthless, vulgar] words ever come out of your mouth, but only such speech as is good for building up others, according to the need and the occasion, so that it will be a blessing to those who hear [you speak].

Psalm 12:6

The words and promises of the Lord are pure words,

Like silver refined in an earthen furnace, purified seven times.

James 3:7-8

For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and sea creatures, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. But no one can tame the human tongue; it is a restless evil [undisciplined, unstable], full of deadly poison.

Isaiah 6:4-7

And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, and the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said,

“Woe is me! For I am ruined,

Because I am a man of [ceremonially] unclean lips,

And I live among a people of unclean lips;

For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”

Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, “Listen carefully, this has touched your lips; your wickedness [your sin, your injustice, your wrongdoing] is taken away and your sin atoned for and forgiven.”

The Bible has no shortage of scriptures discussing the importance of the tongue and our words. Right from the start, we see in Genesis that God spoke the world into creation. “Then God said, ‘Let there be light”; and there was light’ (Genesis 1:3).”  

Likewise, we as God’s image-bearers, have the power to create our world with the words we speak. Words have both creative and destructive power.

Proverbs 18:21 states “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it and indulge it will eat its fruit and bear the consequences of their words.”

From this scripture, we can place all of our words into one of two categories: life or death. Words are vehicles that can bring either life and encouragement or death and destruction.

Have you ever been sharply criticized or cut down and felt horrible the rest of the day? On the flip side, has anyone ever encouraged you or given you a compliment that totally brightened your day?

I’m sure we all have experienced both of those situations, and they both resulted from words. Let that marinate for a second: words affect your world.

That being said, how can we control what comes out of our mouths? According to James, our tongues are a beast that can’t be tamed. In and of ourselves, we can’t control our tongues any more than we can control a blazing fire. However, if we are willing to yield our tongues to the Holy Spirit, He can empower us to speak graciously and in a way that brings life.

What does that mean exactly? It starts by speaking His Word. Just as we saw in Genesis 1, the entrance of God’s Word brings light to our world:

The entrance of Your words gives light;

It gives understanding to the simple.

I opened my mouth and panted,

For I longed for Your commandments. (Psalm 119:130-131)

Allowing God to influence and guide your speech requires diligently feeding on God’s Word.

I find it interesting in the passage of Isaiah listed above, that when Isaiah encountered God’s Glory, he was distraught because of his “unclean lips.” Even more interesting is the Lord’s response: He had an angel cauterize Isaiah’s lips with a burning coal and said his sins were atoned for.

In the words of our Lord Jesus:

“It is not what goes into the mouth of a man that defiles and dishonors him, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles and dishonors him” (Matthew 15:11).

Although words may not seem significant on the surface, they have a far-reaching impact that can not only bring life and healing, but also death and devastation.

As we continue to explore the hidden power of words in this series, I implore you to listen carefully to the Lord’s instruction and to let Philippians 4:8 permeate your mind:

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

Prayer

Take this moment to earnestly ask the Lord to guide you in your speech. Throughout the day, meditate on Psalm 141:3 and trust God to empower you to speak wholesomely and wisely.

Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;

Keep watch over the door of my lips [to keep me from speaking thoughtlessly]. (Psalm 141:3)