ARE YOUR WORDS HELPFUL OR HURTFUL?

In my previous blog post (July 5 ~ CHOOSING YOUR WORDS) I started exploring the impact a word or a few words can make upon someone’s life. Whoever said, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me,” was wrong. All of us have been on the receiving end of someone’s snide, cutting comments. It takes someone whose identity is strongly founded upon Christ to reject and repel hurtful words. None of us is what others say about us, good or bad. We are who the Father says we are. As you’re reading this today, you may need to hear the powerful truth: YOU ARE FULLY LOVED AND FULLY ACCEPTED BY THE FATHER! Let those words sink deeply into your spirit, especially if you’ve been getting verbally assaulted a lot lately.

In 1 Timothy 5:13 Paul is writing to “young women”, giving them a strong warning about being “gossips and busybodies” who are “saying things they ought not to.” That’s a good warning for all of us. There are many things which just don’t need to be said. If more of us would ask ourselves, “Is this helpful or hurtful?”, before we speak, there would be far fewer people “saying things they ought not to.” 

The wisdom writer in Proverbs 25:11 put it this way: “Like apples of gold in settings of silver Is a word spoken in right circumstances.” (NAS) Peter’s mention of gold and silver, two precious metals, provides insight to the profound impact the right words at the right time can have upon another person or a situation. 

This week a well-known professional golfer has been in the news for making some unwise comments while playing in an event in Europe. Unfortunately, he’s this week’s illustration of an “ugly American.” One of his fellow golfers said about him, “I understand he’s just coming out of surgery to have his mouth resized, so he’ll stop sticking his foot in it.” Yeah, while that’s a funny comment, we’ve all been the person who has used words as a weapon. It rarely, if ever, turns out well, yet that doesn’t stop some people from trying again. 

1 Peter 3:10 says, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech.” The phrase Peter uses, “must keep his tongue”, places the responsibility for controlling our speech (“restraining our tongue” Psalm 39:1; James 3:1ff) upon each one of us. Our brain has a God-designed system which controls our speech, but we have to choose to use it! There are times when I’ve made the comment: “I probably shouldn’t say this but…” And then I proceed to say what my brain is telling me NOT to say. So you don’t worry about me too much, there are many of times I choose to be “slow to speak” (James 1:19) and I take the time to ask the question, “Is this helpful or hurtful?” and I restrain myself. To state the obvious, if our brain is telling us not to say something, don’t say it! 

Have a great weekend!