Let’s Talk about Talking

Let’s talk about talking.  James 3:1-12 stresses how much damage our words can do:  “The tongue is a fire, a world of unright­eous­ness”; the tongue is “set on fire by hell”; “no human being can tame the tongue”; “it is a restless evil”; it’s “full of deadly poison.”

The Bible is not subtle:  when we give in to the tempta­tions of gossip, slander, lying, and any other speech sins, we dishonor our Father and hurt our loved ones and mislead an on-looking world and heap misery on our own heads:  it’s lose-lose.  Of course, temp­ta­tion promises a juicy delight in the spreading of such talk, but Satan is a liar and he simply does not deliver what he offers.

But in addition to warning against destructive talk, Scripture also calls us to practice constructive, up-building, hope-spreading, joy-giving speech.  Our words can make a very positive impact:

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.  With words we can build each other up in our faith; fitting speech is a gift to receive; the aim is to convey God’s grace to our listeners.

Psalm 34:1:  I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall con­tinually be in my mouth. Such consistent devotion:  at “all times”; we vow “continually” to exalt God in our talk.  Obviously, then, mixing words of faith with destructive talk is not God’s way for us.

1 Thessalonians 5:11:  Encourage one another and build one ano­ther up.  Hebrews 3:13, Encourage one another every day.  This doesn’t mean just saying “nice” words—our message is nothing like a motivational speech that makes much of You-You-You.

Rather, our calling is to speak in ways that demonstrate trust in God and that summon others to rest in the strong, loving arms of our Heavenly Father.  Encouragement says, “Look up—fix your eyes on Jesus—he’s our life, our joy!”  Believe it.  And speak it!