Habit #7 The Effective Use Of Words

             The most effective productive and joyful believers learn to use their tongues in positive, merciful and kindly ways. “For he that wants to love life and to see good days, let him restrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking guile.” (1 Peter 3:10) The right use of the tongue is vital towards our well-being and longevity. Traditional Christianity and Judaism have paid insufficient attention to this vital scriptural revelation.

Words & Dominion

      When God first made man (male and female) He gave them dominion on the earth over all the creatures on the earth. This dominion as God’s delegated authority was to be exercised by work and by speech.

As we are redeemed in Messiah we are ‘seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus’ at the right hand of the Father and our own personal dominion is being restored to us. We can now begin again to exercise our dominion through the use of the tongue along with our prayers, faith, thoughts and actions.

 Jesus emphasized the redeemed use of the tongue, throughout His teachings “A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings out good things; and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings out evil things. But I say to you that every idle word, whatever men may speak, they shall give account of it in the Day of Judgment. For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned.” (Mt 12:35-37) Here Jesus says that our tongues actually decide whether we will be justified or condemned.

It is with our words (and not just with our mental assent and minds) that we establish our agreement and acceptance of God’s free gift of salvation and His plan for our lives. “Because if you confess the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.  For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses unto salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10)

The tongue is the key to the release of our faith in God’s settled fact. Through it we establish agreement with God’s plan or reject it. The tongue does not create the plan but it is the means by which it comes flowing into our lives and is established in them.

Words determine our destiny. Even the most casual words have an effect on our live because they are seeds, which determine our future. ‘Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.’(Pv. 18:2)

Tongues Must be Trained

Because our speech patterns were formed before we were born again, we have to retrain them to become effective instruments that steer our lives in the direction of God.  These new habits are some of the most important habits of the effective disciple.

James says that as a ship is steered by a rudder we steer our lives by our tongues. As a horse is steered by a bit, God can only steer us through our mouths.  “Behold also the ships being so great, and driven by fierce winds, yet they are turned about with a very small rudder, where the impulse of him steering desires.” (James 3:2-4)

Few things are more important than learning how to use our tongues right? Yet there is almost no education on this subject in our schools or churches. We are taught how to develop and use our minds but not how to use our tongues, the steering wheel of our lives. To educate people without teaching them about the tongue is like teaching drivers the rules of the road without teaching how to use the steering wheel.

Blessing & Cursing

The New Testament places a high importance on the use of the tongue. It reveals instructs the importance and power of the tongue of the redeemed. . James says “Even so the tongue is a little me member and boasts great things. But no one can tame the tongue; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. By this we bless God, even the Father. And by this we curse men, who have come into being according to the image of God. Out of the same mouth proceeds blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.” James urges believers not to permit negative bitter and cursed words from our mouths, which are consecrated to speak the praises and blessings of God. (Jam. 3:5-10)

To curse is to pronounce negative words on ourselves, others or on situations. To bless means to speak forth positive and hopeful words on our selves, others and our situations in line with God’s revealed plan and benign attitude. A blessing brings us into agreement with God’s good plan, but a curse brings us into agreement with the negative it pronounces.

We can train our tongues with the help of the Holy Spirit, who give us a new heart of love to speak love and only love, blessing and only blessing. “Speaking the truth in love, may in all things grow up to Him who is the Head, even Christ.’ (Ephesians 4:16) As we speak in this way we are actually maturing to becoming and more like Jesus.

Effective disciples learn to put cursing away from their mouths and to bless everything about themselves and others and everything that happens to them.  This faith discipline enables us to remaining abiding union with God’s benign plan.

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