DAY 122 - STICKS AND STONES
MILANNA MARTILLARO, CREATIVE & PRODUCTION TEAM LEAD"
“Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips.” - Psalm 141:3
Have you ever spoken without thinking? Kind of a silly question because I am pretty sure we all have. We have all said something and the moment it left our lips we wish we could take it back. I believe the bible teaches us that words are important and that words are powerful. All throughout scripture we see God stress the importance of how we speak.
Psalm 19:14 – Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Ephesians 4:29 - Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
Proverbs 15:4 - A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.
Colossians 4:6 - Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
Proverbs 18:21 - Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.
And the list goes on. What we can gather from these verses of scripture is that our words tremendous weight. It’s like that old saying, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will hurt forever.” We have the ability of life and death in the power of our tongues. And right now I am feeling more than ever that we as a body of Christ have to be so careful that we are speaking life in every moment that we are met with darkness.
I get it there is a lot going on right now that is frustrating, divisive, and stirring up anger. So many times I have wanted to say something, and times I have. But I believe that God wants us to be so controlled over our words so that the world will not see us as resounding gongs.
One of my favorite pastors in the whole world referred to having a guard over your mouth as your “kill fence”. That your guard on your mouth should be set up so much that no wicked thought should leave your lips, but rather let them die at the expense of your kill fence.
There is the power of life and death in the tongue, young adults. And right now in a world that is speaking so much death over us, I want to encourage us all to be speaking life. Let our world build up and not break down. Let them be gracious and seasoned with salt. And let them be acceptable in the sight of the Lord.
Love you guys.