Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.
We were taught to use it as a defense mechanism. To fend off all the mean kids. To pretend that their words spoken didn’t even make us flinch.
But that phrase just isn’t reality.
Words have weight, power, and consequences.
They sting when you want them to and manipulate when you intend for them to. And when they are used to tear down, they seem to not be easily forgotten.
I’ve seen and realized over the last couple weeks how words actually latch on to our subconscious and dictate our actions. I’ve seen people refer to something said to them early in their childhood that still affects them. How it has shaped their everyday thinking.
Isn’t that crazy? It doesn’t seem possible, but it is. I’m sure you can think back to moments that still makes you cringe. That still potentially hold power in your life.
I’ve seen how we need freedom from those words. Words that the enemy has made sure to use against us, divide us and tear each other down.
But I’ve also seen how careful we need to be with our words, to avoid the need for even being free from them.
James talks all about our words and taming the tongue. The visuals he uses to illustrate the power of the tongue are so good.
So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. – James 3:5-10 ESV
And he ends with such a simple truth. These things ought not to be so.
Let’s be careful with our words and build each other up, not tear each other down.
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. – Ephesians 4:29 ESV
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