Sticks and stones may break your bones but words will never hurt you. I remember my mom telling me these words when I would come home crying because someone was bullying me.
As a child I was very frail and sickly. For years other children picked on me and spoke hurtful words that shredded what little confidence and self-esteem I had.
I didn't know or understand anything about God so the best I could do was grin and bear it. As well-meaning as my mom was in her advice she was dead wrong.
Ask anyone who has endured a harmful word. I want a divorce… I hate you… you're ugly! Anyone who thinks words don't have the ability to hurt doesn't live on our planet.
Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
There you have it according to this verse the tongue has power. The power to promote death or power to promote life. Did you know every time you speak you will be speaking words that will bring life or death. I know some smart a** is saying "I don't believe that, I just ordered a cheeseburger and my words didn't produce life or death. It was just a cheeseburger."
We are not talking about cheeseburgers we are talking about the words you speak that will produce life or death. And trust me your tone and manner in which you spoke, to order your cheeseburger pleased or displeased that person.
Your words are very important so you should watch what you say. We should endeavor to speak words filled with God's love and faith.
NIV Proverbs 10:20-21 20The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked is of little value. 21The lips of the righteous nourish many, but fools die for lack of judgment.
Your words can nourish a person or they can cause lack you decide. Scripture teaches you can speak like the righteous or a fool you choose.
Titus 1:10-11 10For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision: 11Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake.
This is an example of what negative words can do inside the church. This is an obvious example of not controlling your tongue.
However, I'd like to look at the not so obvious reason for this.
Verse 10 called these people unruly, vain talkers, deceivers and they did this by the words they spoke. Why does the bible teach that the tongue has the power of life and death?
Proverbs 18:21a Death and life are in the power of the tongue…
Let me give you several truths from God's word and when we put them together you will understand why there is power in the tongue.
Hebrews 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
The Greek word rhema is translated "word" in the above verse in the phrase "word of God." The rhema particularly deals with the spoken word.
This verse is teaching that God spoke words, his words to frame the world. Furthermore he used these words to make things from that which you can't see.
Mark 11:12-14 12And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry: 13And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. 14And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.
So here you have Jesus speaking words to a tree.
Mark 11:20-23 20And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. 21And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away. 22And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. {Have…: or, Have the faith of God} 23For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
In response to Peters comment regarding the previous day, where Jesus spoke to the fig tree Jesus simply responded and said have the faith of God.
This is what the text reads that's why I left the KJV marginal reading in. What Jesus was teaching them was that if they have the faith of God, they can accomplish anything according to the word of God. Now back to Hebrews.
Let's look at this in practical application, to do so we need to go to the book of Genesis.
Genesis 1:1-3 1In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Here we see God speaking words and there was light. Hebrews taught us that God framed the world by his rhema, his spoken word and this was through faith.
Mark 11 taught us that the faith of God can accomplish the impossible. This is what happened in the beginning, God spoke words filled with his faith to accomplish the desired result, in the case of Genesis 1:3 light.
Words were the containers and vehicles that carried God's faith to accomplish his will. So on the positive side, Jesus said that when we have the faith of God we too can speak words that carry God's faith, to accomplish the desired result even the impossible. This you can understand, what you may not understand is that this is one of God's laws. And like many of God's laws it can work for you or against you. Now let me take you a step further.
Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Here again rhema is translated word in the phrase word of God. Thus in one verse we learn how faith comes. It comes from hearing the spoken word of God. What this verse is saying is when you hear God's word (which is filled with God's faith) and you believe and conceive it in your heart, a spiritual force called faith is the result.
When we speak words filled with God's faith, they are filled with this force this power. This is why Proverbs 18:21 teaches there is power in the tongue. Now faith cometh through hearing words...
Remember I told you about God's laws, and how they can work for or against you. We can speak God's word and release a spiritual power called faith however, the same works in reverse.
Since faith comes from hearing God's word and can be released by the words we speak, likewise fear which is faith the devil gives comes the same way and is released by the same principal.
What I am telling you is that when you hear the words of the devil you are being filled with fear. Once this fear is believed and conceived in your heart a force called fear results.
Now according to Luke 6 what is in our hearts will show up on our lips.
Luke 6:45b… for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
When you speak from this spiritual force of fear your words will carry this faith, this fear and accomplish the result they were intended for. This is how the devil gets the world to have faith in him and spread his message of FEAR.
Fear cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of the devil.
This is why I tell people not to listen to the church of satan presented to us through the media of the world. You can't help but to be filled with fear if you continue to listen to his clergy from Hollywood or every night on the 6 pm news, newspapers T.V., computer, or radio.
Even Facebook, that can be a blessing at times, will bring you this fear by some of the things people inadvertently post and share.
Thus, people unknowingly spread this bad news to anyone who sees it, promoting this faith of the devil called fear.
This is why Smith Wigglesworth didn't allow a newspaper in his home he knew the difference between faith and fear.
If I were you, I'd consider deeply this article and change some of your information gathering practices. Perhaps you should just read the bible.
If you will devote yourself to doing this you won't recognize yourself in a few weeks.