Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit. (Proverbs 18:21)
Whenever I preach, I say this prayer: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord my strength and my redeemer.
Words can be healing or they can be toxic. Toxic words seep through to the core of our being. Words spoken in anger can be toxic. They can sting and cause someone's thoughts to be negative for a lifetime.
Words usually do not come out of thin air; they are somewhere down in the heart of the speaker. I remember once meeting a woman who was well over 60 and yet she remembered negative words spoken to her by a family member years before. Every time she tried to move forward in her life and hit an obstacle, she heard the words spoken in her young life that told her she would never amount to anything. Those words made her feel that her life was of no value.
One of the hardest things in the world is to teach our children how to use words to express themselves. This is especially true in an age when it seems like anything can be said on television and radio. I was listening to the radio with my daughter recently and I noticed that when a certain song began, she turned the radio down. She reached for the radio dial so quickly because some of the lyrics included words she did not want me to hear. They were unacceptable words that could shape someone's life in an adverse manner.
My prayer is that my heart and soul will be continually detoxed to rid myself of negative and unacceptable words. Acceptable words heal, while hurtful words crush. Faith-filled words bring life and faithless words bring death. Words create images, and the image we create should be helpful words to build others up. Prayer is a reminder to ask God to sync our heart and mouth to speak words that are acceptable in his sight.
God bless you!
