Power of Words

You’ve probably heard the old saying that “sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” I think we all know that’s so often not true: words can be incredibly hurtful. On the flip side, words can be used to show love, kindness, and generosity. Words have power.

James knows this all too well: he calls the tongue a “world of evil” that “sets the whole course of one’s life on fire.” That’s a pretty extreme way to talk about the power of the tongue. Yet the tongue and our words do have the power to change lives. An ember that starts a bushfire is small but has significant consequences. In the same way, our words can be short, but they can stick with us or with someone else for an entire life.

Learning to control our tongues is hard, but a good place to start is by learning to listen first. When we listen, others feel heard, seen, known, and loved. When friends share their lives with us, we don’t want them to feel like we don’t care or are just there to try and fix all their problems. In fact, only Jesus can fix the most serious problems in their lives as well as ours. Instead, we can learn to listen well and to show empathy, not just to our friends, but to everyone around us. By doing this, we can show both our love and God’s love too.

Questions: 

1. The passage describes how our mouths can say both loving things and hurtful things. Check out verse nine. What reason does it give for why we shouldn’t say cruel words to others? 
2. Why do you think it’s important to speak in a loving way to other people? Do you need to change the way you speak to someone in your life? Can you think of a time someone genuinely listened to you when you had something you wanted to share? How did it feel? 
3. Listening well is a way to show others that we care about them. What does it mean to listen well? How can you make sure you listen well to those around you?

Prayer:

Loving Father, you spoke the world into being. Your Word is mighty, and you gave me a tongue to speak, too. Help me by your Spirit to be wise about how I speak. Give me the wisdom to know when to listen. Help me to speak with the love you have shown me through Jesus. Amen.