Word Power

For years I have enjoyed the “Word Power” section of The Reader’s Digest.  Apparently, it’s also a favorite of Homer Simpson’s.  I learned recently of an episode where Homer approaches a Reader’s Digest editor and says, “I love your magazine. My favorite section is ‘How To Increase Your Word Power.’”  Then, in a demonstration of his expanding vocabulary Homer adds, “That thing is really…really…really…good.”

Word power.  

Nearly everyone is familiar with the childhood mantra: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”  That’s just plain wrong.  Words do hurt.  They can either tear down or they can build up.  

Solomon has a lot to say about words.  You may recall a previous post about the danger of the tongue from James 3:3-12.  Throughout the Book of Proverbs Solomon writes about the same danger.  We’ll consider a few of the proverbs and build our study around two main actions. 

We Must Rely Upon God to Guard our Tongues

Proverbs 13:3, “He who guards his mouth preserves his life, But he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction.”

Solomon paints a helpful picture here, doesn’t he?  We must guard our tongues.  If we do, we’ll preserve our lives.  But he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction.  Have you ever said things you wished you hadn’t said?  

Some years ago I read a poem in William Bennett’s Book of Virtues.  It’s a great poem.  Some of you have probably read it and taught it to your children or grandchildren:

If you your lips would keep from slips, 
five things observe with care:
of whom you speak
to whom you speak
and how
and when
and where.

Word power.

I remember laughing as a small boy when I read the joke about the little boy who told his teacher he was late to school because he squeezed the toothpaste tube too hard and spent half and hour getting the toothpaste back into the tube.  

Like toothpaste squeezed from a tube, once the words are spoken, we can’t put them back.

Proverbs 18:13, “He who answers a matter before he hears it, It is folly and shame to him.”

Have you ever spoken to someone and he or she is not listening to a thing you’re saying?  You can tell: no eye contact and then they start to take a breath of air, getting ready to speak before you’ve even finished your thought.  The Bible says that person is acting like a fool: “He who answers before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him.”  

Listen to folks who are talking to you.  Look them in the eyes and listen.  You don’t have to talk the whole time.  Just be quiet and allow for awkward moments of silence.  Allow others to talk.   

Proverbs 18:21, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.”

Death and life are in the power of the tongue.  You can use words to build people up or to tear them down.  You can use your tongue in speaking about others to promote life or to bring about death.  

Too often people use their tongues to divide, to gossip, to “bring about death” rather than promoting “life.”  Often people talk about others behind their backs:

Famous mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal wrote: “I maintain that, if everyone knew what others said about him, there would not be four friends in the world.”

Like that elderly man who had serious hearing problems for a number of years.  His family tried again and again to convince him to get a hearing aid. Finally he relented. He went to the doctor and was fitted for a set of hearing aids that allowed him to hear 100 percent.  A month later he went back to the doctor. The doctor said with a smile, “Your hearing is perfect. Your family must be really pleased that you can hear again.”  The old man replied, “Oh, I haven’t told my family yet. I just sit around and listen to their conversations.”  He said, “I’ve changed my will three times!”

Proverbs 10:19, “In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, But he who restrains his lips is wise.”

I really like the way the NIV translates this verse: “Where words are many, sin is not absent.”  That’s true, isn’t it?  The more words that come out of our mouths, the more likely we are to sin.  So “he who restrains his lips is wise.”

Words can get us into trouble quickly.

Like the young man on his first day on the job as a clerk in a super market. A lady came up to him and said she wanted to buy half of a head of lettuce. He tried to dissuade her from that goal, but she persisted.  Finally he said, “I’ll have to go back and talk to the manager.”

He went to the rear of the store to talk to the manager, not noticing that the woman was walking right behind him. When he got into the back of the store, he said to the manager, “There’s some silly old bag out there who wants to buy half a head of lettuce. What should I tell her?”

Seeing the horrified look on the face of the manager, he turned about and, seeing the woman, added, “And this nice lady wants to buy the other half of the head of lettuce. Will it be all right?”

Considerably relieved, the manager said, “That would be fine.”  Later in the day, the manager congratulated the boy on his quick thinking. He then asked, “Where are you from, son?”

The boy said, “I’m from Toronto, Canada, the home of beautiful hockey players and ugly women.”  The manager looked at him and said, “My wife is from Toronto.”  He said, “Oh, yeah?  What team did she play for?”

The more words that come out of our mouths, the more likely we are to sin.  We must take care to restrain the lips, or bridle the tongue.

In the words of one of the puritans: “An unbridled tongue is vehiculum diaboli, the chariot of the Devil, wherein he rides in triumph.”

We must rely upon God to guard our tongues.  Secondly:

We Must Rely Upon God to Guide our Speech

There is at once the guarding of the tongue, making sure we say nothing rash, and then the guiding of the speech, working to say words that are wise, words that build up.

Proverbs 12:18, “There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, But the tongue of the wise promotes health.”

There are those times you really want to say something that cuts like a knife, right?  That’s evidence of your fallen nature.  You think about what someone said and later on you think, “Man, I should have said thus and such.  Next time they come near me, I’m going to let them have it!”  

Solomon says, “Don’t be a person who speaks like the piercings of a sword.  Make sure your speech is like the speech of a wise person, speech that promotes health.

Proverbs 15:28, “The heart of the righteous studies how to answer, But the mouth of the wicked pours forth evil.”

Carefully think through what you are going to say, particularly if your dealing with a problem situation.  “The heart of the righteous studies how to answer.”  But the mouth of the wicked “pours forth evil.”  He just lets it all out, not having thought beforehand what kind of long-term impact his words would have.

We end with our final proverb.  If you remember only one of these proverbs, remember this one.

Proverbs 17:28, “Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace; When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive.”

Say nothing and people will think you are wiser than you really are.  We know that from our school days, right?  You’re sitting in a classroom and the teacher’s talking about some theory, or whatever.  There you sit, nodding your head as though you understand completely.  You don’t have the foggiest idea what that teacher’s talking about, but you’ll figure it out later.  Right now you just don’t want to let on that you’re clueless.

As we bring all of this to a conclusion, let me share with you a poem that challenges us about the words we use throughout the day.  It’s written by that favorite author, Anonymous:

If all that we say in a single day, with never a word left out, 
were painted each night in clear black and white, it would prove strange reading no doubt.  
And then just suppose, ere our eyes we would close, we must read the whole record through.  Then wouldn’t we sigh, and wouldn’t we try, a great deal less talking to do?  
And I more than half think that many a kink, would be smoother in life’s tangled thread, if half that we say in a single day, were left forever unsaid.

What About You?

• Given that “death and life are in the power of the tongue,” how will you use your tongue today as a parent or grandparent encouraging little ones?
• Have you said something recently for which you need to ask forgiveness?–forgiveness from God and from the one you offended? 
• Here’s a helpful daily  prayer: “Dear God, guard my tongue that I would say nothing foolish and guide my speech that I would say only those things that would edify others and exalt the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.”