Ray is PCC’s Senior Pastor.

Friends,

Can I get something off my chest? Okay, here it is: What we say matters. It matters to others; it matters to God – who, by the way, is always listening.

A Christian I know recently made some derogatory comments about fellow Christians, which I just could not believe. They were mean-spirited and unfair. Like sharpened arrows, the words pierced me even though they were aimed at someone else. How could such odious words pour forth from a mouth that also professes to know the love of Jesus? Proverbs says, “The tongue has the power of life and death.” It’s true. The things that were said killed me. . .and deeply wounded my spirit.

Angry, arrogant, hurtful and judgmental words are inconsistent with who Jesus has called us to be. James writes [3:9-12], “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.”

In Colossians 4:6, the Apostle Paul writes to Christians saying, “Let your conversation be always full of grace.” What have you said today? What have you said about others? How did you say it? Who heard you? Have your words been helpful or hurtful?

In the past week, I’ve become more acutely aware of what I’m saying, and how I’m saying it. Sometimes I wonder if I should be more quiet. Perhaps God would say, “Yes Ray, most definitely.”

Below are some quotes about the importance of words and how we use them. Hopefully, they’ll get us all thinking.

Ray
Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something. – Plato

Word, words, words. – Shakespeare

The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug. – Mark Twain

Half the world is composed of people who have something to say and can’t, and the other half who have nothing to say and keep on saying it. – Robert Frost

By swallowing evil words unsaid, no one has ever harmed his stomach. – Winston Churchill

Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. – Proverbs 12:18

Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. – Solomon

For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that men will have to give account on the Day of Judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned. – Jesus