Prophetic Thought: What we say betrays our innermost thoughts and feelings. Our words speak to our anger, fear, confusion, peace, hurt, bitterness, joy, and apathy. The way we say them gives away how we really feel and where our insecurities lie. What we say influences the people we work with, go to school with, our siblings, parents and kids. When we’re tired or we drank too much, our words come out unfiltered, no matter who they hurt. They are most piercing to the people we know and love the best. What we post on social media gives us a platform we didn’t earn, and influences people we don’t even know without accountability. Every day our words are shaping the people around us. What and who is determining the words we say? James challenges us to control our tongues, to speak with a filter. To leave behind pointed sarcasm, bitter words and harsh critiques. To let Jesus speak through us with words of encouragement, love, reconciliation and peace.
Application: Will your influence be positive or negative? Will you leave people better than you found them? Will your words bring life or death to others? You’ve probably heard that your actions speak louder than your words. But what if your words and actions don’t align? Ask God to search you, recognize where you are drifting away from God and allow Jesus to speak life into you and through you. Jesus speaks life into you like fresh water from a spring. We cannot control our tongues on our own, we can only allow Jesus to change what we say. And that changes the way we talk about ourselves and the words we use with others.
James 3:10-12 NIV 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
- Search Me
- Recognize the Drift
Anchor Passage
James 3:2 NLT Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.
John 4:13-14 NIV 13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
