The Power of Words
By Rachel Head
Many of us know from experience that our words can hurt people or encourage people. On many occasions, we have said things that were not appropriate for the setting or not appropriate at all. I remember reading the books Little House on the Prairie and thinking about how the girls (Laura, Mary, and Carrie) were supposed to be seen and not heard. The parents, Charles and Caroline, instilled good characteristics into these children so that they knew when to talk and when to keep silent. These days, children, teenagers, and adults have many different avenues where their words can be heard or seen. Many of these do not even require them to use their mouth and talk. Today, I am going to be talking about how we can speak through our minds, mouth, and hands.
How can our minds affect what we say? Well, it is not only what we say but what we think. Whatever goes through our minds will eventually come out of our mouth. Let’s look at Philippians 4:8. “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.”
Paul told the Christians in Philippi that if there were any good things, to think about them and not to think about bad sinful things. He continues in verse nine to say, “Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”
So we should follow the example of the Christians in Philippi and be careful with what we put into our minds. This includes TV shows, our electronic devices, magazines, books, and I could go on. I LOVE to read, but if I don’t watch what I read, I could go to hell because of it. We should always have God’s Word in our mind so that we do not fall away into sin.
We all know that we love to talk. I love to talk about my dog and my farm. Some like to talk about sports, school, food, and so on. But if we aren’t careful, our mouth could get us into trouble. One single word can make the difference between someone being happy or sad. Our tongue holds the weight of the decision.
James 1:19-21 states: “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.”
If we do not listen to people, how are we going to know what to say to help them? Sometimes, if we do not know what to say, we do not need to say anything at all.
My last point that I would like to talk about is dealing with our hands. You may ask how this applies to our speech. Well, in this modern world we have “smart” little devices that can destroy relationships, homes, and trust. These devices, as you may have guessed, are our phones, tablets, and computers. I currently have an iPhone and a MacBook. I like that they give me the ability to connect with people and do things for school. But if we really thought about it, these devices could destroy the world. I believe that people are more willing to send bad things via the internet because they think it is not as intimidating as face-to-face talking. In reality, sending it via the internet is worse because they do not know the tone that is meant or silly autocorrect can mess it up. I know on many occasions that I have meant to send one thing and autocorrect “fixed” it. The message was not bad, it just used another word that I did not want there. Also, when we are talking face-to-face we can solve a dispute easier than online. The person hurt by us can also know our tone so that they know how to respond. In Matthew 18:15-16 it states: “Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.” It is better to do the apologies in person instead of online so that they can see your behavior and hear your tone.
I would like to end with this powerful quote.
“If we understood the power of our thoughts, we would guard them more closely. If we understood the awesome power of our words, we would prefer silence to almost anything negative. In our thoughts and words, we create our own weaknesses and our own strengths. Our limitations and joys begin in our hearts. We can always replace negative with positive.” -Betty Eadie