People often speak death over themselves, ignorant to the suffering they are welcoming into their own hearts and minds. The answer is in 1 Corinthians 15:33— “Be not deceived: evil communication corrupts good manners.” We might as well be witches/warlocks with the words we say, words like spells of chaos and destruction. We accept the lies from the mouth of a serpent, the forked tongue belongs to the enemy not an ally. The old saying goes “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”, this phrase could not be further from the truth. Words have power, the tongue is a powerful weapon, it can either be used for demolition or it can be used to build someone up. We are warned in Ephesians 4:29— “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers”, therefore we must be careful what comes from our mouth. The inner workings of our hearts and minds dictate what will be said, so be mindful and hold those thoughts captive before they slip out, lest regrets are born. When Jesus said to be like him, he also said we should not “break bread with the wicked” in 1 Corinthians 5:11— “But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner- not even to eat with such a person.” This scripture is akin to a warning label on a box of tide pods, do NOT eat, it will poison you. This message from Jesus was very straightforward, because who or what we choose to surround ourselves with. I used to believe it was simple as witnessing an action and following suit, I studied psychology in college, and learned about mob mentality. But it isn’t the action that influences, it is the words that are spoken.
If I see someone jump off a bridge, I am not going to be tempted to jump off that bridge just because they did, but if they start talking about what an adrenaline rush it is, that I could be missing out on something cool, or as everyone remembers from their childhood, “are you chicken?” This challenges the prideful part of us, and I am not saying that everyone would succumb to this peer pressure but many of us have at some point in our life. Whatever the reason, we are not always bulletproof. We can be with the Armor of God, but if we just jump on the bandwagon and be of the world, it never ends well. Have you ever noticed that you start using slang words other people use or you adopt a character trait that they possess when just hanging out often? It is all about planting seeds. We can plant good ones and we plant bad ones, those that sprout curses or blessings. It matters what we water the seed with, are we reading God’s inspired word or are we trusting the inspired word of Man ABOUT God. Are we surrounding ourselves with people that will feed our demons or are our companions helping us break chains?
How to Speak Life
- Have a wholesome tongue (Proverbs 15:4)
- Be slow to anger (James 1:19)
- Be gentle and patient (Proverbs 15:1)
- Do NOT Gossip (Proverbs 11:13)
- Forgive One Another (Matthew 18:15)
- Pray without Ceasing (Luke 12:3)
- Give Thanks (Psalm 105:1)
- Be Kind and Sweet to Others (Proverbs 16:24)
- Don’t be so SELFISH (Proverbs 18:2)
- Don’t be a HYPOCRITE (Proverbs 11:9)
- Don’t LIE (Psalm 34:13)
- Don’t claim Anxiety or Depression (Proverbs 12:25)
- Don’t SWEAR (James 5:12)
- Do NOT Doubt (Matthew 21:21)
- Read and Live the WORD (Job 23:12)
- Speak in Tongues (Acts 2:3-4)
