Words Have Power!

“And He was saying to them, “Take care what you listen to.  By your standard-of-measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides.  For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him” (Mark 4:24-25).

Hey Gang: Are there any Rooster Cogburn fans out there?  Rooster had two very serious problems, one, he tended to like to take more than a nip on his jug, which loosened his tongue, and tended to keep him in deep water with his traveling companion, Kathryn Hepburn, a missionary traveling with him who acted as his conscience.

Once when he was especially boisterous, she related the following ditty to Rooster, “A wise old owl lived in an oak; The more he saw the less he spoke; The less he spoke the more he heard, Why can’t we all be like that bird?”  There is an old Dutch adage that says the same thing in a different way; “It is best to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt”. 

Jesus gave a stern warning when He said, “But I tell you that every careless word that people speak; they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment.  For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matt. 12:36).

Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians put it this way, “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear” (Eph. 4:29)

Solomon, a man filled with the wisdom of God wrote, “Words from the mouth of a wise man are gracious, while the lips of a fool consume him” (Ecc. 10:12).

Our challenge for the day, as we put on the full armor and head out into the mission field, should be “Let the words (every word) of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer” (Psa. 19:14).

So, my young friends, what words will you utter today?  Will they be words that bring honor to your heavenly Father?  As the old hillbilly once said, “Choose your words wisely for you may have to eat them.”

Blessings,

Gramps

Amish Proverb: “An unkind remark is like a killing frost – no matter how much it warms up, the damage is already done.’