"And you have not His word (His thought) living in your hearts, because you do not believe and adhere to, and trust in, and rely on Him whom He has sent.--That is why you do not keep His message living in you, because you do not believe in the Messenger Whom He has sent" (John 5:38 AMP).
Words are alive when we live by them. Lies or truth, it doesn't matter. Words we have stored up in our hearts through thoughts, decisions, vows and judgments--these comprise our belief system. The words that carry the most influence over us are spoken by those we are closest to, those we trust the most with our well-being. These words, whether hurtful or affirming, are the words we keep alive through memory. They are building blocks of our expectations for the future. They also comprise the code by which we conduct our lives at present.
If we do not trust the person speaking, we will not necessarily keep their words alive in our thinking, even if they will save our lives. Jesus came among men bringing a message of eternal life and the forgiveness of wrongdoing. Yet, because many trusted in something else, and would not trust Him, the Life, the Truth and the Way, they would remain deceived and continue to stumble toward their destruction.
In the Bible, the letter James wrote dedicates a whole portion (chapter 3) to the tongue, more precisely, its utterances (words). He talks about those who use their words to teach others and of the great accountability those "teachers" come under. He writes about offensiveness of speech being an indicator of a person's maturity. He also mentions how the tongue (words) can be used for great wickedness, causing the hearer to be contaminated and the speaker to become more depraved. Without self-restraint over our words (thoughts and speech), by submission to the Holy Spirit, they become death-dealing poison instead of life-giving nourishment.
Our words are meant for blessing others with wisdom that is pure, peaceable, reasonable, compassionate, truthful and sincere. Our words are to contribute to our (and others') conformity to the will of God, producing harmony between individuals and keeping our minds free from fears, agitatiang passions and moral conflicts. The tongue, and the words it utters, are very powerful and those who use them must know that God will judge every one of them (Matthew 12:36-37). How important, then, is it for us to pray (and to seek after): "May my spoken words and unspoken thoughts be pleasing even to you, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer" (Psalm 12:14LB). Think about it.
© S.M. Hudson, Hidden Treasure Ministries, December 2003. All rights reserved.
Categories: forgiveness
