There is Power in Your Words

We live in a put-down society where the cut down artists seem to reign supreme. Our culture is peppered with vitriolic, so-called humor in sitcoms and rap albums and even in our news programs. Our politics often majors in the art of character assassination, and we have made icons of such put-down hacks as Ann Coulter on the far right and Al Franken on the far left. Too many other pseudo-journalists have become multi-millionaires with their own versions of put-down political "commentary" that has very little to do with fairness or common decency. The list, if we wished to name aother names, could go on and on. Suffice it to say that caustic comments pervade American popular culture and the cruel commentary is rewarded by many.

American Idol, television's most popular show, is powered by the cutting remarks of Simon Cowell. And any contestant is fair game for the attacks of so-called comedians. Poor Sanjaya Malakar, only seventeen, has been ridiculed beyond any kind of politeness.

But what is all this put-down humor and lack of respect getting us as a people? Psychologists Cliff Notarius of Catholic University and Howard Markman of the University of Denver studied newlyweds over the first decade of marriage, they found a very subtle but telling difference at the beginning of the relationships. Among couples who would ultimately stay together, 5 out of every 100 comments made about each other were put-downs. Among couples who would later split, 10 of every 100 comments were insults. That gap magnified over the following decade, until couples heading downhill were flinging five times as many cruel and invalidating comments at each other as happy couples. "Hostile put downs act as cancerous cells that, if unchecked, erode the relationship over time," says Notarius, who with Markman co-authored the book, We Can Work It Out. "In the end, relentless unremitting negativity takes control and the couple can't get through a week without major blowups."

The old saying "Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me" was meant to buck up kids who were told hurtful things. But the truth is that words can hurt. Words are very powerful things. The Bible tells us so.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit" (Proverbs 18:21)

There really is power in your words. According to the Scriptures, the tongue has a power. Notice it says here, "the power of the tongue". Its obvious that the power referred to here is not the physical power of the tongue as a muscle, but the power of the words it produces. So we can see that the Word of God is saying that our speech is tremendously important, powerful and significant. So much so that our words are a matter of life and death. Perhaps this is why Jesus declared, "But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment." (Matthew 12:36). "For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." (Matthew 12:37). These declarations of Jesus Christ should cause us to sit up and take notice, and consider very carefully what kind of words are coming out of our mouths and why.

Saying positive things, encouraging things are like apples of gold --- "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver." - Proverbs 25:11. We need to say positive things, not negative things. We need to say things that are in line with the Word of God. Prayers and confessions based on the Word of God bring life. Put downs and cut downs bring death. CHOOSE LIFE!