Kingdom Hearts

We are reminded in Scripture as to how much damage we can do with our tongues (James 3:5-8).  I know I have done my share of using my tongue as a weapon to hurt people, intentionally as well as unintentionally.  Here is what I find interesting though.  For the most part, with regard to using words that our culture deems as “bad words,” we get it.  We try our best not to use those words because that is “cussing” and that is a sin.

But am I off base when I say that “cussing” is really not confined to using “cuss words?”  What about speaking evil of a brother or a neighbor?  What about gossip?  What about lying?  These may not be what we normally think of as cursing, but they are certainly examples of damage we can do with our tongues.  In fact, it is amazing to me how one can gossip or be less than honest in a story he tells, then turn right around and say “but I don’t cuss,” as if that is all that really matters.

Another example of how we can hurt others with our tongues is by simply failing to think before we speak.  A lot of times, even in our zeal and desire to do a good thing we can hurt others’ feelings.  Part of our charge as God’s people to be loving, compassionate, tender-hearted, and kind, is to think carefully about what we say to others and how we come across.  The point of all of this is that the tongue is actually one of the most powerful tools we have in our efforts to influence others for good and build one another up.  This alone warrants the need to choose carefully how we use our words.

The good news is that the tongue can be used for much more than negative.  In this same context of James 3, James reminds us that our tongues can be just as much a blessing (vv.9-10).  Paul reminds us that our speech is to “always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person” (Colossians 4:6).  In like manner, to the Ephesians, he also attests, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear” (Ephesians 4:29).

Perhaps the most challenging aspect of this is to excercise such wisdom and grace when the opposite is demonstrated toward us.  Perhaps the real challenge is to use our tongues as a blessing when we perceive that we have been cursed with someone else’s tongue. 

Thank God that the actions of His Son serves as a blessing to those who cursed Him.

Have a wonderful weekend!

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