Words

James 3:5 - ...the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. 

I received a bitter reminder about words the other day. Not just words, but thoughts. The words we say either speak life or death. Ouch. Big ouch. I know one person who will agree that's a big ouch on my part! It's an area I need to work on.

There have been experiments done on words, either spoken or not, on the life of rice! I'm doing my own experiment to see if it works! Two jars of cooked rice were placed into a refrigerator. On one a note was written, as best as I can recall: I love you. Rice is nice. I hope you live a long time. The other jar contained the note stating: I hate you. Rice is awful. I hope you die. Well, you don't need to guess which one lasted the longest. And these words were not spoken but written. The nice rice lasted 81 days without mold where the other one was covered in disgusting black. 

Another experiment was done with water by Dr. Masaru Emoto. Depending upon the  word spoken, the water drop would take on a certain shape.  Some were ugly when unpleasant words were spoken. Other drops took on the shape of beautiful snowflakes. 

I don't doubt these experiments but it also brings up the point of words and not only what the words are but how they sound. I have to admit my words can be brittle. Not all the time, but enough. It's something I truly need to work on. And thoughts, the same thing. And let's not even get into gossip! Why are our words a troubling issue? Why do we do this?

I think it's pride. We try to bolster our own image to make ourselves look good, to boost our self-esteem. As I have pointed out on numerous occasions, there is no one who is good. God does not look at anyone as better than the next. We so easily get ourselves so puffed up. Admit it, we all do it. Even humility in some is false. Oh, there are some who truly are humble in the eyes of God. I'm sure, though, there must still be moments of pride. It's what we do when we notice it that is important.

James 3 has a whole study on the tongue. A very hard word. We cannot bridle our tongue, he tells us. If we were able to we would be perfect. But we are not perfect. Only Jesus was. But what are we called to do? Be more like Christ. And yet we will never be just like Him because we will always struggle with sin. So the words...how can we combat this desire to speak unwholesome words? I guess for starters we bite our tongues...and let the words remain thoughts. James tells us that if we can control our tongue we can control our entire body. So, does that mean if we control our tongue we can control our thoughts? What a pleasant thought!

The tongue boasts of great things, he tells us. It's a fire that is a world of iniquity and defiles the whole body. This fire comes from hell itself, and of course, that means Satan is involved. We can tame birds and animals, even ships, but not our own tongue! It is full of poison. We both bless God and curse men with it (and some curse God with it as well). Blessing and cursing come from it. It brings nothing but evil.

I looked up scriptures about the tongue. Way more than I wanted to see. Briefly, a rundown:

Our words will either acquit or condemn us - 

Matthew 12:37

Many words equate to sin; it's good to hold a tongue - 

Proverbs 10:19

Guard your lips, guard your life or else you will come to ruin - Proverbs 13:3

Tongue brings life or death - Proverbs 18:21

Man will give account to God for careless words - 

Matthew 12:36

The words we speak come from our heart - 

Matthew 15:18

Yes, what a wretched man I am! I'm speechless. Perhaps that's for the better! I mentioned last week how complaining does not bring good. Don't we complain with words and thoughts? Oh, what a wretched man am I? Who will rescue me from this body of death? (Romans 7:24) This is where Jesus comes into the picture. He covers those sins...yet we are to make some attempt to overcome these faults we have. We can only do this through the power of Christ so that's why we need Him. So what will my prayer be? Lord, help me to hold my tongue and bring only the good, true and just things to mind. A difficult task ahead! And yet the good things in store at the same time. He can tame our tongues.

1Peter 3:10 - For he who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit.