…Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks." Matthew 12:34
Who a person is, is first identified from their lips. The mouth reveals the heart. From our mouths flow: boastful words or words of gratitude and humility; hateful words or loving and kind ones; fearful words or words of confidence and hope; shameful words or words that honor; accusatory words or ones of grace; and angry words or gentle words. Our words will reach the hearer, but mostly our words are a mirror. Who we want to be and how we will be seen starts in the heart.
A changed heart is the only hope for society. laws do not work. Education helps, but only a little. effort is good, but then we get tired or upset. And finally, religion is probably the worst since it only frustrates us because we are not producing better results. James 3:8 says this regarding our mouths, 'No man can tame the tongue.' But Jesus can cleanse our hearts, which changes our words. Depending on our faith in Jesus, we will speak…
WORDS THAT HURT… "As she breathed her last - for she was dying - she named her son Ben-Oni…" Genesis 35:18a
Imagine going through life knowing your mother, as she was dying, named you the equivalent of affliction, hate, evil, or sorrow. I'd hate to have the moniker 'Ben-Oni', especially on a playground. Labels like those can really damage a person. This is the power of words. They hurt people in long term ways that are not always visible. What we declare (name) over everything, matters to God.
"The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit." Proverbs 18:21
…OR WORDS THAT HEAL.
"…But his father named him Ben-Jamin." Genesis 35:18b
With every relationship or situation, we can choose to name it a Ben-Oni (sorrow), or a Ben-Jamin (strength). Just by what we call things can make life for ourselves and everyone else better or we can make it worse. We can talk about how bad life is, or how good God is. To change our words, we must have a new heart - of faith.
"…Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Romans 10:17 (NKJV)
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