“Death and life are in the power of the tongue” – Proverbs 18-21
“The tongue is the only tool that gets sharper with use” – Washington Irving
Words are powerful weapons that can inspire or destroy someone.
Two wolves are always fighting. One is darkness and despair. The other is light and hope. The question is which wolf wins? The one you feed. This is an old Cherokee parable that has been passed down for generations. What does it have to do with words you ask?
We always have a choice when we speak. God has given us the freedom to choose our words. Some bring light and hope and are rooted in love. We all have words that are never released and words that should never have been released. We have words that build up and ones that tear down.
If we speak something out of a place of fear, fear is manifested in our environment – that fear is spoken into existence. The same goes with love, when we speak life and love these things are made manifest.
Scripture has a lot to say about our words.
“Whoever guards his mouth and his tongue keeps his soul from troubles” – Proverbs 21:23
“No human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it, we bless our God and Father, and with it, we curse men, who are made in the image of God. Out of the same mouth comes blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send out from the opening fresh and bitter water? Can a fig tree, My brothers, yield olives, or a vine figs? This no spring yields both salt water and fresh water” – Jacob (James) 3:8-12.
“The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing” -Proverbs 12:18
“Set a guard over my mouth, Lord, keep watch over the four of my lips” -Psalm 141:3
I get convicted over my words all my words. I spew ugly words out of my mouth without thinking, only later to be convicted -” Why did I say that.” Conviction is a declaration of guilt for behaving in a way that doesn’t align with God’s commands.
Conviction should be followed by repenting and asking for forgiveness to receive God’s grace and then turned into action to prevent that behavior from being repeated in the future. God can forgive us 50 times a day, but we need to not give up on turning away from sin.
James 3 says, “No human being can tame the tongue,” so what’s the point in trying if it can’t be done? Matthew 19-26 says that Jesus looked at them intently and said, humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”
The way to tame your tongue is by partnering with the Holy Spirit, these problems cannot be solved or transformed by mere willpower. It takes the Holy Spirit to do.
We need to starve the wolf of darkness and despair and nourish the wolf of light and hope. How do we do this:
1. Dedicate our hearts, minds, and tongues daily to the Lord.
Pray that God will protect our minds from thoughts that lead to words of destruction. Continually offer praise and profess His name. When we choose to praise, it’s difficult to slander, gossip, fear-based words, and curse people.
Luke 6:45 says, “The mouth speaks what the heart if full of” what are you filling your heart and mind with?
2. Have Awareness and consciousness of words
We should Taste our words before we spit them out. Acknowledge our need for discernment and God’s grace to help us remain conscious of your words. Be intentional
If we are supposed to speak up, we should do it with boldness. If we are supposed to remain silent, do it with boldness.
One of my favorite Psalms is 19:14,
“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, Lord my rock, and my redeemer.”
Take responsibility for the words that come out of your mouth.
3. Don’t Complain
We are not entitled to the act of complaining, especially when not in front of our friends, co-workers, or strangers. No one enjoys hearing it, and most people do not have our best interests in mind. If people don’t engage you or agree with you when you complain about yourself or others, it is because you are making them uncomfortable.
When I want to complain I usually tell the person that I need to vent to process through the day. If you need to vent give yourself a time limit. Vent, pray, and then change the subject. Sitting with negative words is suffocating and causes death to the environment you are in.
4. Ask for forgiveness for any unloving words or attitudes
We all make mistakes if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and we could also control ourselves in every ever way. We should spend some time with God repenting and asking forgiveness regarding our language or words that we have spoken that are offensive to God. Work on changing the way you speak in order to demonstrate His love.
5. Work on speaking words that encourage, comfort, edify, and inspire
The goal here is to speak life.
“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” – Ephesians 4:29
To encourage means to give support, confidence, or hope. To comfort means to soothe, console, or bring freedom from pain. To edify means to cultivate, develop, and build up. And inspire means to motivate, excite, and energize.
Which Wolf Will You Feed?
From Pity to Praise 