Words are wonderful when they are used in a good way. They can encourage, edify and give confidence to the hearer. A right word spoken at the right time can actually be life-changing (Proverbs 15:23).
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Words are wonderful when they are used in a good way. They can encourage, edify and give confidence to the hearer. A right word spoken at the right time can actually be life-changing (Proverbs 15:23).
But words can also keep us from experiencing God’s plans for our lives. Proverbs 18:21 (ESV) says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue….”
Words are containers for power and we need to choose them carefully.
The Bible shows us that there is a heart-mouth connection for the words we choose to speak. Matthew 12:33-34 (NIV) says, “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit…. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”
What’s in your heart will come out of your mouth if it’s in your heart in abundance. This means if you think about something long enough, it’s going to come out in the words you speak.
Now, we need to understand that we cannot tame our tongue without God’s help. James 3:7-8 (ESV) says, “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.”
The good news is God will never tell us to do something without giving us the ability to do it when we lean on Him for the grace to do it. And He wants to help us tame our tongue because the quality of our life can’t rise above our own confession.
Confession means “to say the same thing as.” And we need to say what God says in His Word. Hebrews 4:14 tells us that Jesus is the High Priest of our confession, and this means He can only do what we’re saying that lines up with His Word and His will for our lives. So it’s vital for us to learn how to speak the Word of God.