According to the Bible, words are powerful. By his word, God made the heavens (Psalm 33.6 and Genesis 1.2); by his word, God can heal his people of their maladies (Psalm 107.17-22 and Luke 7.1-10); by his word God sustains the universe which he created (Hebrews 1.3). Yes, words are powerful—especially in the mouth of God.

     Words are powerful in our mouths too. Proverbs 15.1-4 says, “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise dispenses knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly. The eyes of the Lord are on every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good. A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.” The author of Proverbs reminds us of the practical reality of how we use words with people around us effects those individuals. Four effects of our words are listed in this passage.

     1) How we say something is often more important than what we say. “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger (vs. 1).” The phrase “Oh, how precious”, can communicate many different meanings depending on where the speaker puts the emphasis. It can indicate that you believe some action was cute and child-like; or it can indicate that you truly value the experience that just happened; or it can be used to make a derogatory statement about a person. It all depends on how it is said. The author of Proverbs reminds us to watch our non-verbal signals in our conversation, because we can cause great damage with our words depending upon how we say what we mean.

     (to be continued...)

     See you Sunday,

  Pastor Dave

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