Words. Last Sabbath our pastor preached a sermon on words and how we use them. I cannot deny I know and love the power of words. But I do know also how they can be used as a weapon.
In my youth I started using swearing and trash talk to prove I was one of the boys. Later as a crew boss I used words to cut people down or build them up, it all depended what I wanted out of someone. I knew the power words could have and I was never afraid to use any from the nastiest swear words to high flalutin words not everyone understood to prove my smarts. But the common denominator was I used words as weapons.
The thing was I didn’t really see what I was doing, or did I recognize it as anything more than holding my own. And, of course, that fit in with the rest of my life as a substance abuser, me first was what it was all about. Then all of it changed.
As I started to listen to the Bible every day, my words changed. I didn’t notice it happening. But others did. I would be in a conversation with a contractor or one of the other project managers and they would ask, “What the (expletive) is wrong with you? Have you gone soft or something?” And my first reaction would be to get angry and want to swear a blue streak at them, but I would not. Still not convicted enough to speak the truth of my fledging faith. I would just say, “It’s the new me!” and leave it at that. But over time I found that it was not just the words that were changing but the attitude behind them.
It is funny how the Holy Spirit works. First, He took away the ‘weapon’ words then He took away the reasons I used them. That was and is a difficult process because I found all those words I used were tied to the same disorders that drove my addictions. Words were the outward sign of the inward turmoil that was my life adrift without a moral center. Without Jesus Christ. It was the Word of God that as it began to fill that void changed the words and the man too.
So, you would think it would all be good, right? Transformed guy. Potty-mouth and weapon words no longer part of my life. But wait just a minute. Satan does not let go so easily or completely. Even eight years down the road from my accepting Jesus, I have been in situations where every nasty swear word comes to mind or I would like to cut that guy to ribbons with a few choice words. After all he just stole that parking spot that was mine, all mine! What is this all about? I thought I was transformed, a new man. The truth is, I am. Let me explain.
The difference for me comes in the results. Yeah, Satan brought all those words back to me and the anger to go with it. But I thank God and the Holy Spirit because now normally as quick as it comes, it is gone. The man who would have jumped out of his car spoiling for a fight, spewing venom, has been transformed. Losing that parking spot, bad as it seems, in the scope of it all means nothing. I smile and wave. So, it is all in the results.
But is not speaking negative or vindictive words enough? Of course, the answer is no. One of the Proverbs says this, “Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.” (Proverbs 16:24) The other thing I have found that as I speak graciously and positively, gracious and positive things happen all around me. I have become a joyous person who likes to spread that joy in words as well as actions.
I guess I could write about this all day and never say it better than our Lord does in the gospel of Matthew, “Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. (Matthew 12:33-37)
It is scary to think I will be judged for every idle and ugly word I have ever spoken. All I can do today is thank God in Jesus Christ for His transforming power that changed my evil heart to good. May I this day and every day bear fruit that honors and glorifies Him. A blessed thought and even better words!
Blessings John
3/12/18
