Hi everyone I know you are prospering in Christ, being blessed and highly favored in every area of your life. I’ll admit, it has been more than a week lapse, before I felt God leading me to this topic for the blog. I was reading my written notes of studies and came across a topic I wanted to share with my friends and family. It’s the power that we as Christian’s wield daily for good and bad, but are completely unaware of it and its consequences. I re-read this study and I believe it needs to be on this blog because of its relevance to today’s society. The study was born out of Matthew chaper 15. In the begining of this chapter, Christ challenged religiousity, condeming the mindless rituals and rehersals, taken from the traditions of man. He was drawing the contrast that such worship and dedication is meaningless, as it relates to the condition of a man’s heart. As clarified in verse 8 and 9, Jesus was clear that God is after the redemption of the hearts of men. If our hearts are redemed, our outward actions would follow. The Pharasees and Scribes were more concerned about their outward appearance of holiness and therefore assumed certain actions could defile men. Christ corrected them and explained that what comes out the mouth of a man is what defiles him, because from the heart comes all types of sin and evil thoughts.

Now that I have summarized the beginning of chapter 15, my question is; How do we tell what’s really in our hearts? According to the bible it is what comes out of our mouths that can reveal the condition of our hearts.

Matthew Chp 15:11

Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.

Matthew Chp 15:18

¹⁸ But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.

¹⁹ For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:

Definitions:

Defile

• Sully, mar, or spoil
• Desecrate or profane
• Make filthy

Antonyms of defile are;

• Purify
• Sanctify
• Cleanse

It is clear from the word of God, that what comes out of the mouth, is what defiles. The question is why? The reason lies in the biblical fact that our mouths wield a power when we use our words. Don’t forget we were created in the image and linkness of our Father and Creator. He used his words to create the universe, the earth, sun, moon and stars. His spoken word carried with it power to build and tear down. I believe, we too as his creation, are bestowed with that ability in our own capacity. Don’t believe me see the following verse;

Proverbs 18:21

Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

Wisdom given to us by one of the smartest men that ever lived, Solomon. He knew that within the tongue, there was a power for creation(life) or death(destruction). If our spoken words are born from the condition of our hearts, when was the last time we really listened to what is in our hearts by what we say? Have we considered how we are applying this power in words to our lives and the lives of others by what we say? Are we saying what we truly believe or believing what we say? The bible has made a direct connection from our tongue to our hearts, why? I believe for two reasons;

1. When we genuinely speak (usually when we are emotionally stressed), the words come from the thoughts we hold in our hearts, our convictions. It is why people say lets have a heart to heart talk. They cut away ego and their perceived image, to reveal thoughts and feelings that they keep to themselves. Children are a perfect example of saying what is on their hearts regardless of how it sounds.
2. It we don’t guard our tongues and keep saying things we don’t mean, it can plant a seed in our hearts. Remember the bible says people grow faith by hearing the spoken word of God. If faith which is born in the heart of men can be planted by words, then so can doubt, corruption, even evil, based on the words we speak. The person’s words we hear the most throughout the day is ourselves.

Now is this power in the tongue truly capable of speaking life or death? I can explain to you that what king Solomon meant when he said Life or Death, was more a metaphorical meaning. He was speaking in relation to dreams, aspirations, faith and hope in something or relationships. He was not including the act of physical death and life or was he? I know this blog just took a Scifi turn, by suggesting we have the power in our tongues to speak literal life or death upon someone or a situation. That is exactly what I am inferring and it is being done daily in this world, not just by Christians, but by the entire human race. I will prove this with the examples below;

Spoken Word of a Dictator.

In the past as well as the present, humanity has been using the power of their words to kill, steal and destroy. Perfect example is Adolf Hitler who killed over 17 million people in the Holcust. The words he spoke were filled with hate and evil, which revealed what was in his heart. His words became the belief system for his underlings and they carried out his atrosities. Millions of lives lost at the words of one man’s warped belief in his heart.

Jospeh Stalin killed over 40 to 62 million people in his 12 year reign. His words influenced a regime that mostly used torture, hard labor and hunger to kill millions of people that opposed their beliefs.

Mao known as one of the worst, is known to have killed over 80 million people in his reign. His ideology led a regime that conducted atrocities to maintain power. They also starved millions of civilians by their policies. Policies born from the words of a dictator, which came from the convictions in his heart.

Today we have presidents that make declarations of war and conduct regime changes based on their ideoloigies. In the end thousands of civilians loose their lives in war, along with the soldiers that are following the orders of their presidents. Even though in today’s age an attempt is made to mitigate the loss of life, so as not to repeat history, but precious lives are being lost at the word of one person.

Spoken Word of Bullies that lead to Suicide.

Among 15- to 24-year-olds, suicide is one of the leading causes of death, according to Suicide Awareness Voices for Education. Additionally, 16% of students consider suicide; 13% create a plan, and 8% have made a serious attempt. These statistics are not only based on physical bullying, but also on the things that are being said to and about these young impressionable minds. In my study I found countless tragic stories of young lives with potential, being lost because of people using their power of words for evil. They chose to tear down and destroy with their words, rather than build up. As in the case of Ryan Halligan, a thirteen year old boy that was healthy emotionally and physically, but entered a school of bullies. Their relentless abuse of the power in their words, resulted in this child taking his own life out of despair on October 7th 2003. This is not uncommon as the statistics above show, the number of young people that consider death over life, because of some people weaponizing their words.

Spoken Word of a Trusted and Loved Confident.

We are all human and through relationships, we develop close connections with people. Some of these connections are automatic as in the case of a child and a parent, some are developed because of friendships and some are based on attractions that lead to love. In all these cases we tend to reveal who we truly are to the people we are closest to and therefore our hearts are laid bare. They know our good and bad. This leaves us vulnerable, because the very people that are closest to us, are the very ones that can deeply wound us emotionally by saying the wrong things. I am sure many of us here can relate to something hurtful, that was said to us by someone we trusted. They leave unseen scars that either shape our lives, hinder them from moving forward or both. This impact is the power that words can have when used without wisdom or are not spoken in love. The effects of such wounds in the long run, can be minimal or lead to devastating results.

Not most of us consider that words can actually kill, damage, destroy etc. We recklessly make opinions and speak our minds without any consideration for the effect our spoken words may have. Especially as Christians, we make small self defeating comments, gossip about our brothers, completely unaware of the effects from the power of those words in our lives. There is a reason that there are numerous verses in the bible warning and guiding us on the use of our tongues. God our creator understands the importance of training our tongues, because he is fully aware of the power and its consequence. It is important to remember that in the Garden of Eden, God made the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, out of the earth and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. Whatever Adam called them that is what they were named for eternity. The power of Adam’s spoken word was even applied to his help mate, who today is still called Woman. At the fall of man, where the knowledge of good and evil was introduced, men began using their own wisdom (hearts) to guide their tongues and words. They no longer were obedient to God who was the guide in using their words constructively.

Here are some warnings and advice from the word of God in regards to training our tongues:

James 3:5

⁵ Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!

1 Peter 3:10

¹⁰ For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:

Proverbs 15:4

⁴ A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.

Proverbs 15:28

²⁸ The heart of the righteous studieth to answer: but the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things.

Proverbs 21:23

²³ Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.

There are many more verses in the bible, that you can do a search yourself and see just how many apostles, prophets and patriachs advised and warned of the tongue. Why focus on this so much? Well I believe if we can conquer our tongues and use the words we speak contructively, our lives and the lives of others can change for the better. The bible says the words of a man is what defiles him, but what if we changed what we said. The key to conquering our tongues is changing our perspective on our spoken words. If we can understand that our spoken words have power to effect real and tangible change in our lives and in others, it will cause us to pause. That’s all we need is a pause before we speak. Enough time to have the Holy Spirit interject and advise on the words we use, how we say things or even if we should respond at all. The revelation of pausing is supported by the verse above Proverbs 15:28. This is important because the correct words can do the opposite of defile, they can sanctify, purify and cleanse our hearts and minds. I believe this puts us in the place to receive from God, but that is another blog. The correct words can build up faith in God’s word in ourselves and others around us. If we viewed every word as a seed, when released they bear fruit, what kind of fruit would we expect to see? That’s the shift in perspective that we as Christians need to embark on as we work out our salvation.

Having a positive mindset is not enough, we need to use our words to back up what we believe and want to happen. Contantly speaking in faith of the things we don’t yet see, but believe and pray will happen. This is important in our lives and when we interact with others around us. This is why apostle Paul admonishes us in this verse to focus on only good and positive things, it is so our speach born from our heart’s convictions will be uplifting and constructive. He understood the need to build up and not tear down.

Philipians 4:8

⁸ Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Again we come to a place where the need to spend more time in the word and in relationship with God is crucial to our walk as a Christian. The more of God’s word we know, the more constructive power packed words we have to speak. The closer we walk with God, the more of an understanding we gain of his word. This not only makes us more effective in taming the tongue, but also more effective as a Christian. The bible says we are to be salt and light in the world, Colossians 4:6 “ Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man”. Our conversations will become more positive and God filled, giving life water to others in a desert of fear and evil. This is part of our duty as Kingdom citizens, to use the power of speech to share the wisdom and knowledge from the word of God with others. It is what our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was chastised for by the Pharisees, when he chose to sit and eat with the tax collectors and sinners. He chose to sit and share the word of God with the lost, speaking words of wisdom and knowledge into their lives. Why? Well see the following verse;

Isaiah 55:11

¹⁰For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:

¹¹So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

There is a guarantee backed by God that his word will accomplish its task when spoken in faith. This is why it is important as a Christian to share the love of Christ, the gospel and the good news of God’s Kingdom everytime we get. It’s how we influence the communities around us to preserve the peace and love amongst them. How we use our words create a gateway to the hearts of unbelievers, for the word of God to come in.