Where There’s Smoke…
A few years ago, our neighbors house got struck by lightening during a storm, causing a fire in their home. Even though the fire department got there relatively quickly and put it out, the smoke damage alone had already ruined the entire house, making it unlivable for a long period of time. Carpets had to be replaced, wallpaper stripped…stuffed animals and clothing had to be trashed. While the house may have been intact structurally-speaking, its contents had to be replaced from scratch.
Our words are the same way. In one quick phrase, we can do a devastating amount of damage to someone (or to ourselves). We don’t even have to have malicious intentions to hurt or destroy someone’s self-worth, trust, or goodwill. Even if we apologize, and are forgiven, we can never take those words back, and, unlike God, another human being cannot forget.
We tried to teach this to our boys a few years ago with the good ol’ “toothpaste analogy.” I let one of them squeeze the entire content of a toothpaste tube out into the sink. Then I asked them to put it back in the tube. Obviously, they couldn’t. That’s what our words are like. We can’t take them back. The damage is done. No do-overs. No returns.
Our adversary knows this all too well, and will look for every opportunity to deceive us into thinking that our words are not nearly as powerful as our actions. He wants to create division. He wants to stir up gossip. He wants followers of Christ to get caught up in grumbling, complaining, or whining. It seems so benign, so innocuous. That’s why it works.
I have been known to be a bit on the chatty side. I love to talk, and I love long conversations. I, therefore, probably have twice as much opportunity to sin as my shyer, quieter friends. It is all too important that I remember the power that my words have to either build up, encourage, and edify, or damage and destroy.
Thanks for the power of the word. It has such negative effect but also such power for good. May God help us to use our tongue for healing.