God's Roadmap

Now may the Lord Jesus Christ and our Father God, who loved us and in his wonderful grace gave us eternal comfort and a beautiful hope that cannot fail, encourage your hearts and inspire you with strength to always do and speak what is good and beautiful in his eyes (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 TPT).


Saturday, August 24, 2019

Our Words - Are They Tools or Weapons?

by Barbara Latta

Sometimes silence is golden.
Words are tools or weapons


TV and radio programs pollute the airwaves with words of hatred, accusation and blame. The entire earth is filled with words that hurt other people and plant seeds of doubt and discouragement into minds.

God is listening.

His heart is hurting.

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice (Ephesians 4:30-31 NASB).

We can grieve the Holy Spirit in lots of ways, but the way we use our words must stab at the heart of God.

It’s so easy to get back in the flesh when situations arise that play on our emotions. If I don’t have the Word constantly before me in print or audio, I find those condemning thoughts turning into words I shouldn’t be saying. For a few days, I found myself doing this. I was losing things, forgetting what I needed to do, and not using time the way I wanted to. I was talking to myself in ways that violate the Word of God, but I was so into my slump, I didn’t recognize it. Then when I stopped and got quiet, God gave me this message. When I stopped talking to myself, He could speak. And I realized what I was doing hurt His heart.

When the tormented body of Jesus hung on the cross and his blood-soaked lips uttered, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”, the Father also felt that pain. Those words stabbed at His Father-heart because He had the power to stop the torture. But His love for sinful, despicable, fallen mankind forbade Him from stretching out His hand to save His Son. Because He wanted to save us.

So when our words flutter through the air at each other and at ourselves, they are telling God all that He has said doesn’t matter to us. If we are tearing each other down and talking to ourselves in negative ways, we are disobeying His Word that tells us to let our conversation be seasoned with salt.

Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person (Colossians 4:6).

It’s like turning our backs on the pain of the cross that God didn’t stop.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue.

If we don’t obey His Word with our words, we are living in unbelief. And that must cause Him as much pain as the words of Jesus on the cross. God is saying back to us, “Why have you forsaken Me?”

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit (Proverbs 18:21).

But when we offer up words of praise, how His heart must absorb the love and worship when we speak so reverently to Him.

I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonders. I will be glad and exult in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High (Psalm 9:1-2).

Words of thanksgiving and honor flowing from the new heart He has given us bring a smile to our Father. And lifting each other up as members of the same family bring us into that bond of fellowship.

And what better way to bring others into the kingdom than with the Words of God spoken in their hearing rather than condemnation of their actions.

One amazing characteristic of our heavenly Father is when we do fall back into downtrodden conversation, He still has His arms open wide for us to fall into His embrace. His hugs turn us back around and remind us of His healing Word.

We can use words as tools to bless God and as medicine for the wounded souls of hurting people, or they can be used as weapons to slice and annihilate.

Our choice is to decide which ones we choose each day.

Am I choosing to use the verbal toolbox that builds or to draw the sword from the scabbard?

Where sin abounds, grace does much more abound.

But where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 5:20-21).

How great is our God!

Join the conversation and share your thoughts.








11 comments:

  1. Indeed they can Ms. Barbara. Thank you for this humbling reminder ma'am. Even though I ask God to "guard my mouth" each day, I far too often forget my request and fall into that trap. Well done ma'am.

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    1. As I must guard my mouth so often, which is where this post came from! Thanks for your thoughts, J.D. Blessings!

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  2. The tongue can be an instrument of encouragement or a weapon of pain. Thank you for reminding us to to share love and praise, not grief and heartbreak. Hope you're feeling better now. Satan attacks us in those slumps because we're vulnerable.

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    1. Katherine, you are right that Satan attacks us when we are down. God used His Word to correct my speech so I am walking in a better light now! Thanks for stopping by. Blessings!

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  3. This phrase really stepped on my toes, Barbara: "... and talking to ourselves in negative ways, we are disobeying His Word that tells us to let our conversation be seasoned with salt." When I do a "good job" of controlling my tongue, I speak kindly to others and offer encouragement. But I can be pretty harsh on myself often - many of those times, perhaps my admonishment was warranted, but more than not, it's negative talk that I'm letting the evil one whisper in my ear. Thanks for the reminder to let my talk to others AND myself be seasoned liberally!!

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    1. Julie, my toes were stepped on, too. My negative attitude toward myself was where this post came from. Thanks for stopping by. Blessings!

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  4. Barbara, often I do a better job of speaking well of others than I do of speaking harshly toward myself. I was struck by your words that when "we turn our back on His word we're living in unbelief". Ouch! Thank you for the gentle exhortation to guard our tongues--even in regard to ourselves. Blessings, Tammy

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    1. I am also harder on myself than on others, Tammy. Thanks for stopping by and sharing. Blessings!

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  5. So true, Barbara. Thanks for this word of admonition. Our words can sound like the grumble of the Israelites, despite our knowing what that meant for them. Our words do have power. To build up or tear down.

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    1. Yes our words have more power than we know and we should remember the lesson from the Israelites but we so often forget. Thanks for sharing, Jeanne. Blessings!

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