I heard a great message
today that included the verse, "Death and life are in the power of the
tongue."
I know that I have been guilty
of saying rash things in the heat of anger, not realizing how damaging they are
at the time. What's worse? We often direct our most hurtful tirades against
those we hold most dear.
But what about speaking other
things? We give power to things by speaking them. Sort of like self-fulfilling
prophesies. Things like, "I'll never find another job as good as the one I
lost", or My relationship is beyond repair."
What we speak is a reflection
of our thoughts. Whether directed at others ("You'll never amount to
anything!", "You never do this or that"), or at ourselves or our
circumstances ("I'll never succeed", "Maybe I'm just meant to be
alone").
Emerson said, "The
ancestor of every action is a thought." I would say that thoughts are
ancestors of our words too.
The Apostle James said that
our mouths should not be used for both blessing and cursing.
So today you're faced with the
same decision made by the ancient Israelites. God said, "Today I place
before you a blessing and a curse." He left it to them to choose. So, you
too are left with a choice. Will you bring a blessing on yourself and others or
will you choose a curse? The power is in your tongue.
