September 18, 2023
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
and those who love it will eat its fruits.”
-Proverbs 18:21
I was riding from our house in Kentucky to the campground in Tennessee, where I have the distinct privilege of pastoring a small church at a family campground. I hadn’t even made it out of town before a little maroon Lexus tested the limits of my salvation. I was approaching the county sheriff’s office with a clear road ahead of me. As I got closer to the entrance to the sheriff’s office, I noticed a maroon Lexus speeding through the parking lot towards the road I was on. I watched the driver look at me and, without hesitation and without a hint of slowing down, pull right out in front of me! A few choice words came to mind, as well as some creative names for the driver. I was not completely shocked, just dumbfounded at how they could be so careless and reckless, especially after seeing me approaching.
I ended up behind the car at a red light. Hey never looked up in the rear view mirror as I sat behind them, fuming. On the outside, I was calm, but on the inside I was really letting them have it! The light turned green and we began to move forward. Once we had travelled a few hundred yards, I decided to go around the Lexus and put them behind me and focus on the enjoyable ride to Tennessee. I signaled and moved over to the left lane. Just as I was even with their bumper, they surprised me again and just seemingly decided that they wanted to drive in the passing lane, even though there was no one for them to pass. What they didn’t realize was that I was already occupying that space! I backed off the throttle, applied a little brake and ended up behind them again, but at this point I was about as angry as I have been in a long time. This driver about hit me twice in the span of five minutes! My mind was racing with all sorts of things to say, names to call the driver of the Lexus, but I ended up holding my tongue, passing on the right, looking at the driver and shaking my head. 8 miles down the road, I was on a curvy stretch of county road that didn’t have a car in sight and the Lexus driver wasn’t even on my mind anymore.
How many of us can relate to this scenario, on some level? How did you handle it? Did you remain calm and move on, or did you let your anger get the best of you and maybe you said a lot of things that, in hindsight, you wished you hadn’t because ultimately those words accomplished nothing, especially if they weren’t heard by the other driver? But what if those words were heard? What sort of impact do you think they would have had? What would your words have accomplished? In many cases, our words escalate a situation because they come from a place of anger. There’s no rational thought behind them and our words have an impact on the situation and the people around us. How we talk to others is important because we are speaking to a fellow human and, wouldn’t you know it, every single one of us has been created in God’s own image. Every single one of us. We all bear the imprint of God, it doesn’t matter if we see it, all that matters is that He sees it.
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
-Genesis 1:27
James knows the devastating power of words, which is why he writes in his letter:
“So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.”
-James 3:5-6
He knows that the tongue can be used to discourage, derail, dismay, deceive and destroy the precious children of God, and he tells us that it cannot be tamed:
“but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.”
-James 3:8
If we cannot tame our tongue, then what hope do we have?
We need to speak to other people with a full awareness that they are created in God’s image. This means that we see them not as the countless names we may wish to call them when they have wronged us in some way, but as men and women who are created in the image and likeness of God, breathed into being with the very breath of God Himself. There is a holiness built into each human being, a sacredness that comes straight from their Creator, and we miss an important aspect of their existence when we overlook this quality.
Our words are a reflection of the word of God. Go way back to the book of Genesis, and you see that God’s word is creative — not destructive. God says, “Let there be light” … and there is light. God says, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures” … and there are all kinds of fish, large and small. God says, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind” … and there are cattle and creeping things and all types of wild animals. It’s clear that all of God’s words are designed to be creative, to bring order out of chaos, and to make something good.
Can the same be said of our words? Before you open your mouth to speak, you would be wise to apply this biblical test to what you are about to say. Is it creative? Does it bring order out of chaos? Does it make something good?
If not, it’s better to remain silent.
We should not profess to love God and speak evil about His prized creation.
Notice what Jesus says regarding the way that we speak about others, in the gospel of Matthew:
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.”
-Matthew 5:21-22
If you have respect and honor for God, you should have respect and honor for those made in His image. Period.
Control your tongue or it will control you.
Don’t let it run wild. Ask God to help you.
