I recently completed a Bible study through James, and in chapter 3, James focuses largely on taming our tongue and how our tongue directs the rest of our behavior and lives. He boldly states that the tongue is a fire, corrupting the whole body, and that too often, we praise God and curse people out of the same mouth.
Being a writer, words are important to me, and I love thinking about their power and how they can be so intentionally used to convey an infinite amount of ideas, feelings, or memories. But this devotional framed our words in a totally different way than I've heard before, and I've been ruminating on it a lot lately.
In John 1:1, it says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Later, in verse 14, it says, "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Jesus IS the Word. He is what we should be speaking. Our words should reflect Him, His character, and be carefully molded to resemble Him. I want everything that comes out of my mouth to align with Him, to glorify Him, and to be rooted in who He is. So what does that mean? John spells it out: grace and truth. Everything we speak should be rooted in Scripture, in accordance with the Gospel, not blurry, misshaped messages about God and our identity. Everything we speak should be generous, intentional, and kind, gentle to those receiving while not compromising in quality.
To speak Jesus, our words must flow through His Spirit, the Holy Spirit. We learn His language of love by spending time with Him, in His presence, studying the Bible to understand what He spoke, in what tone. We must practice choosing our words carefully, biting our tongue when we need to be quiet and listening more than we speak. We have to be in tune with His voice and instruction, so that in every situation, we are prepared to speak and reflect Jesus.
I would like to acknowledge that these particular voices in John are not specifically instructing our speech. They are part of an introductory chapter in John, setting the foundation of who Jesus is and why He matters. But my devotional challenged me to make some connections that I haven't thought of before, and it's something I'm getting excited about learning about. There are so many other Scriptures explicitly instructing our words and the way we speak, all of which build upon this concept that we should be speaking Jesus, reflecting His character, and full of grace and truth.
"The words of the godly are a life-giving fountain; the words of the wicked conceal violent intentions." - Proverbs 10:11 (NLT)
"This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words." - 1 Corinthians 2:13 (NIV)
"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up others according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." - Ephesians 4:29 (NIV)
"Let your conversation always be full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone." - Colossians 4:6 (NIV)
"The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit." - Proverbs 18:21 (NIV)
"If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or clanging cymbal." - 1 Corinthians 13:1 (NIV)
"Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly." - 2 Timothy 2:16
And there's more, friends, if we'd just open up our Bibles to truly learn and understand the type of words that are to be coming out of our mouths. We need to be engaging in godly, enriching conversations, speaking life over each other (and ourselves). That is the biggest way that we can begin to make a difference in our hearts, our homes, and our relationships. It all starts with our words.
As I was thinking on this, I realized how at work, I try to be very intentional about speaking words of encouragement over the kids in my class. (I work at a preschool.) I want to uplift them and acknowledge when they're being kind, helpful, or successful. But it doesn't have to stop at work. When I get home, when I'm at church, or even just around town, I can keep my eyes peeled for ways that I can acknowledge and celebrate the people I interact with. I have to choose to speak life over them, lifting them up and noticing them. Note, this begins with me getting out of my own head and being present.
Not only that, but we can extend these words to ourselves too. We have to be on guard with the words that we allow to stick around in our brain, and we have to evaluate if they are life-giving or not. We have to speak Scripture and truth over ourselves, over and over again, ensuring that the devil's lies do not have a hold on our mind. Because if those draining, untruthful, unholy thoughts dwell in our mind, you better bet they will infect our hearts and the words that we speak over other people, too.
But I want to get super, super practical here. What kind of words should I start practicing? What should become more regular in my vocabulary? Here's a start, what has begun to lay on my heart:
"Hey, I recognize {an area of growth}. I can see how Jesus is working in you, and I'm so proud of you!"
"I'm grateful for you because......"
"I really appreciate how you....."
"I noticed you were struggling a little bit, and I want to help. Is there anything I can do, or a more specific way I can pray for you."
"I remember when you asked me to pray over [blank]. How are you doing in that area?"
"In my Bible study, God was teaching me [blank], and I just wanted to share that with you!"
"I'm sorry for...."
"I forgive you."
I've really been thinking and meditating over the power of our words and how we can practically choose words that reflect Jesus and give Him the glory. I want to dig into Scripture, take special notice of how Jesus spoke and apply that to my own life. Because our words hold life and death, can build up or tear down, and I don't want to be careless with that kind of power.
What is God teaching or revealing about your words? What kind of words can we practice saying so that we can speak with even more grace and truth? Let me know down in the comments below!
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