“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never harm me.” Or can they? Today, I was reminded of the importance of a kind word. As a whole, our society tends to think that the louder you get – the more likely you will be heard. Our tempers are short, and we tend to say whatever we’re thinking in the tone that we’re thinking it! But, how calming and soothing is a kind word! Solomon said, “A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.” (Proverbs 15:4) Yes, your words have the ability to destroy and break one’s spirit – our own and someone else’s – so how important is it that we “guard our mouths?” (Proverbs 21:23)
First of all – what comes out of our mouths determines our destiny. Jesus said in Matthew 15:11, “Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.” James warns us, “Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.” (James 1:19) He goes on to add, “If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridle not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.” (James 1:26) If you can’t control your words, you’re basically a hypocrite! “For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words, thou shalt be condemned.” (Matthew 12:37)
Secondly, what comes out of our mouths could change someone else’s destiny. Our “speech should be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.” (Colossians 4:6) Paul urged the church in Ephesus, “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.” (Ephesians 4:20) We should speak as the virtuous woman who “opens her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.” (Proverbs 31:26) We are to “speak evil of no man, to be peaceable, gentle, showing humility to all men.” (Titus 3:2)
A “soft answer turneth away wrath; but grievous words stir up anger.” (Proverbs 15:1) May you remember the power of a “kind word.” God Bless, Courtney