Our words are powerful, and we have the ability to greatly impact others by what we say. God gave us the power of speech to enhance our lives, but He also gave us the freedom of choice to decide what words come out of our mouths. We’re just as capable of hurting another person by a careless slip of the tongue as we are of building them up with words of encouragement. When we speak to others, we must be aware of the power we wield.
As Christ’s representatives, we have an opportunity to set a powerful example through our speech. Whatever is on our minds is what we’re most likely to say. We make a mistake when we let negative emotions cause us to blurt out something we don’t need to say.
Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so (James 3:5-10, NKJV).
God wants all our verbal communications to be positive and uplifting. There’s a strong connection between what we think and what comes out of our mouths. What we believe greatly impacts what we verbally confess. We’re free moral agents, and we can decide to either tear down someone or speak kind words to them. “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof” (Proverbs 18:21).
We can often tell someone’s emotional maturity and mindset as soon as they open their mouths. Listening to the way people speak can reveal either their foolishness or their wisdom. “Wise words are like deep waters; wisdom flows from the wise like a bubbling brook…The mouths of fools are their ruin; they trap themselves with their lips” (Proverbs 18:4, 7, NLT). Wise people think first before speaking; foolish people have a bad habit of tripping themselves up with what they say.
We’re all prone to flashes of emotion from time to time, but when we’re angry we should not speak; it’s wiser to wait until our emotions have cooled. Once we speak, we can’t take back our words. Taking a deep breath first and “counting to ten” helps us decide the right thing to say. “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God” (James 1:19, 20). Letting anger get the best of us never helps anything.
We’ve been given great authority, and this authority even extends to our speech. Asking the Holy Spirit to give us the right words makes us better ministers to others. We’ll never go wrong when we trust God in this area.