Gracefully Seasoned Words – Part 2

Words can hurt us.

“The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man's inmost parts” (Proverbs 18:8).

Words enter into our inmost parts. To be great teenagers, living for Jesus, we must abstain from gossip, name calling, cursing, swear words, mocking words, and sarcasm. It can be very tempting at times and we want to act out, we want to scream, we want to cave in and lash out at individuals or situations. And sometimes we do. Maybe we say something negative about someone but it is something small and we try to justify it and tell ourselves “It’s no big deal, it’s just a small word and it won’t really hurt at all.” Then we wake up the next day and we feel horrible about what we said. Sound familiar???

Maybe the world’s temptations are too strong at times and we cave in completely and gorge ourselves with profane words and unbecoming conduct. It may feel great at the time but then it sets in and we realize that we have just hurt our witness and we cannot perform as we need to as Christians.

Careless words hurt us and our testimony. How can we expect to do God’s will if we are corrupting ourselves with harmful words? If we cannot control our words, we are deceiving ourselves and our walk with Christ is worthless.

And what about the words we tell ourselves?

Prov. 16:24 says, “Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones”.

Some of us beat ourselves up verbally don’t we? We beat ourselves up with negative thoughts. “I’m fat, I’m unattractive, I’m stupid, I’m a horrible person”. What kind of words do you speak to yourself? Are they words of encouragement and self-esteem? Do your words reflect the fact that God created you in His image and that He loves you? If not, they should. Don’t speak down to yourself or others. This will hurt you more than you may realize at the time.

Words can hurt others

Leviticus 19:16 says, “‘Do not go about spreading slander among your people. Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor's life. I am the LORD”.

And no matter what the world tells us about how words don’t hurt anybody, I think common sense should tell us otherwise because words can hurt others. A friend responds with hearsay; a neighbor offers details; a coworker swears it’s true!

Gossip and slander can ruin friendships, by placing doubt in our minds; it can ruin reputations and tear apart lives. Gossip can have devastating lifelong effects on lives.  Gossip builds as sparks of rumor, innuendo, and half truths leap from ready mouths to eager ears. The dancing flames of gossip entice people to gather around its hot, tantalizing fire. Like a glowing ember in a forest of dry trees, the fire of gossip is far from harmless. One dropped spark from its fire has the potential to set off a blaze that sears a person’s dignity and reputation.

Don’t fan the flame of gossip by repainting it. If the information concerns something that needs your attention, get the facts and take necessary and appropriate action. Carefully keep sensitive matters concerning others on a need-to-know basis, respecting privacy as you would like them to respect yours. Luke 6:31 says, “Do to others as you would have them do to you”. Avoid the hot glare of Gossip. Instead stand in the cool light of truth. Words hurt. They not only hurt us and others, but most importantly they hurt God.

Words can hurt God

Proverbs 6: 16-19 says, “There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers”.

When we look at Proverbs 6, we see that having a lying tongue and being a false witness is listed among some things that the Bible tells us the Lord hates. Lying is the conveying of a false statement—information deliberately given as being true. It is also “anything meant to deceive”—deception. Satan is the author and father of “the lie” (John 8:44). Lying is definitely against God. How could a lying tongue not hurt God?

It is difficult for me to understand how we can pick and choose God’s Word and only apply what we want to our lives. How can we say with complete confidence that we please God when we are only obedient in the areas that we choose to be obedient in? We cannot pick and choose what we want to follow when it comes to God’s instructions. It’s simply all or nothing when it comes to serving our Lord.

Teenagers, God calls gossip a sin. For something that the world tells us is so small and harmless, God tells us differently. Gossip violates God’s command to treat others the way you would like them to treat you. Slander” is a word that has an interesting origin. It comes from the word “Devil.” According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, slander means “malicious talk; to spread damaging information; to defame; to speak ill of.” Is it no wonder where slander derives its name? Slander is the work of the Devil, and those who slander are on his team. In fact the Bible says that Satan is called the “accuser of the brethren” (Rev. 12:10). Are you an accuser of the brethren too? If so, even though it may not be your intention, you are being used an agent of the Devil!

According to scripture, any Christian whose mouth is out of control does not have a right relationship with God. James 1:26 says, “If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless”. “Gossip” is derived from the idea of “whispering.” Gossip” means “To indulge in idle talk or rumors about others; spreading of sensational stories.” Gossip is a close cousin to slander, and God’s Word places both in the same cupboard as murder and other wickedness - sins worthy of death.

Let me ask us teenagers, as a Christian do you occasionally slip up and commit a murder here or there? Or how about theft - do you occasionally burglarize a home or steal things from the store? You may think this is silly to ask. Of course, a Christian lifestyle doesn’t behave that way. But how about gossip or slander?

Do you engage in idle talk or rumors about others? Do you participate in bad-mouthing or spreading rumors about others? According to the Bible, which sin is less severe? Murder or gossip? I’m sure you get the message. Paul said, BOTH are sins equally worthy of death. I’m sure that you realize that anything which is placed in the same category as murder must be a serious sin - something that should not be taken lightly. But unfortunately, Christians do not usually consider gossip and its related activity as sin.

What we must realize is, gossip is more than a little bad habit. Gossip is wicked and sinful - it is a disease of corruption from the mouth. Gossips use their mouth as a weapon - a weapon which is always aimed at people to fulfill Satan’s desires to “steal, kill, and destroy” (John 10:10). “With his mouth the godless destroys his neighbor” (Prov. 11:9). Gossip is an enemy to God and everything called holy -- a cancer which spreads a deadly infection to the body of Christ.

Closing: 

Words can and do hurt all the time! The truth is, words hurt, don’t they? They hurt us, others, and they hurt God. All throughout Scripture we read about how our careless words can affect all of us in a negative way. I believe that God is speaking to us today, His message rings load and clear in our ears. He desires us to be obedient and to guard our lips as we can all agree, Words are dangerous and hurtful. We must no longer indulge in them.