Around age two most children have a vocabulary of 100 to 200 words, and the ability to form simple sentences. So you might say that you’ve been saying words all your life. But the real question is, “What have those words done?” Sure, most of them, are gone and forgotten. Others, though, had profound and lasting consequences.
We are responsible for what we speak into other people’s lives. Our words can be balm that brings healing or our words can be nuclear and destroy everything in sight. We should use them with caution. We have the power to heal through the words we choose. The Bible mentions the healing power of the tongue several times. In Proverbs, the Bible mentions the “tongue of the wise brings healing” (12:18); “tongue that brings healing is a tree of life” (15:4); “pleasant words are … healing to the bones” (16:24). The Bible also warns us to be wary of the destruction that our words can bring (James 3). We’ve all been hurt by words, and sometimes the effect lasts years. Proverbs 12:18 tells us that reckless words pierce like a sword.
We can’t deny the power of words. In our tongues is the power to build or destroy; to bless or to curse; to heal or to wound; to instruct or to corrupt. Choose blessing. Choose to build. Choose to heal. The Bible tells us that words are the expressions of our hearts. What are our words expressing about our hearts? Choose carefully.
Speaking of words. We never knew a word we’ve been saying our whole lives, isn’t really a word!