Watch Your Words

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

Matthew 5:5

If meekness is strength under control, one of the first strengths we need to control as followers of Jesus is that of the tongue. We learn on the playground that “sticks and stones may break our bones, but words will never hurt us.” Yet even the kindergartener repeating the saying knows by experience how wrong it is. Words have power. The proverb says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” That means words can help or they can hurt.

Too often followers of Jesus fail to understand the amount of pain our words can cause, both in the lives of others and to the witness of Christ in the world. We demonstrate such ignorance when we do not exercise restraint, but use our words both to “bless our Lord and Father and…curse people made in the likeness of God.” Of such lack of self-control, James, the brother of Jesus, wrote, “My brothers, these things ought not to be so.”

The follower of Jesus controls the power of the tongue. He obeys the command of the apostle Paul, who wrote, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouth, but only such as is good for building up, as it fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Often our witness for Christ is heard most clearly in what we do not say when our circumstances prompt us to be cruel, unkind, gossipy, or profane. It’s this simple: If you say you are a follower of Jesus, but you do not control what you say, you’re either not following Jesus that closely or you’re not following Jesus at all. 

Father, I’ve shouted things in public I should have never whispered in private. Forgive me. Give me grace to tame my tongue.