The Power of the Tongue

'I love you'. 'I'm sorry'. 'Thank you'. 'Excuse me'. 'Please'. I used to call them as "The Five Magic Words" when I was still teaching to preschoolers. I consider them as magic words because those simple words actually create a significant impact to others. Those words are simple, yet they are magical.

In the message of this Saturday's Connect Service, Pastor Vic Quisimbing talked about the power of the tongue. He stressed out that words are powerful--they can help but they can also hurt; they can make but they can also break.

Words are indeed powerful for the world started with a word. Genesis 1:1-3 says," In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."Now the earth was formless and empty,darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light." There had been light when God said 'let there be light'. In the same way, our very own words are powerful too in making or breaking someone. 

The word of God is powerful in a sense that the WORD is GOD Himself. John 1:1-5 tells us, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." In the book of Pastor Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life, it simply tells us that we all have a purpose in life and that is to make the Word known. That Word itself is God--His sacrificial,unconditional, and everlasting life that He has for us; and His supreme sovereignty. 

James described our tongues as the most dangerous part of the human anatomy. James 3:5-6 says, "Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body,sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell." Our tongue is only a small portion of our whole being, but then again, if we won't be mindful of the words that we speak, those words will corrupt our whole entity. The words that we speak will reflect who we are, that is why it is dangerous if we are not cautious. 

Pastor Vic stressed out his views about the power of the tongue with these three points. First, The Power to Control; second, The Power to Destroy; lastly, The Power to Bless. 

First, our tongues have the power to CONTROL. Proverbs 21:23 tells us, "Those who guard their mouths and their tongues  keep themselves from calamity." If we are tactful in expressing our thoughts and emotions, it will actually guard us from internal and external conflicts with others. Our  tongue has the power to control for it can adore or abhor; it can build or belittle; it can oppress or repress. Our tongue has the power to control us, but we can do something about it when we are heedful of the words that we speak. We have to THINK before we speak. THINK stands for:

T- is it TRUE?

H-is it HELPFUL?

I- is it INSPIRING?

N- is it NECESSARY?

K- is it KIND?

If the things which we are about to say do not fit to those standards, it would be better if we will keep our lips sealed.

Second, our tongues have the power to DESTROY. James 3:7-8 says, "All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind,  but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison." A lot of people have destroyed their lives in the process simply because they were not mindful of the things that they say. Words can either make us or break us. Our tongues, as James put it, is a restless evil, it is full of deadly poison. Taming it is highly impossible, it is only by the grace of God that would make it possible. The maxim, "Less talk less mistake" is indeed true. It saves us from pain and from paining others as well. Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President of the United States of America once said, "I have never been hurt by anything I did not say." 

Lastly, our tongues have the power to BLESS. James 3:9-12 tells us, "With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water." Our tongues have the power to bless others, they have the power to praise God also. But at some point, we lose sight of the fact that we do the exact opposite of it. It is easy for us to praise God for who He is, for what He has done, for what He is doing, and for what He will be doing in our lives. Yet on the other hand, it is also too easy for us to be critical to others and to hurt them by the words that we speak. We are all created in the likeness of God, who are we to belittle others? If we are about to use our tongues, use to it BLESS others, not to BLAST them. Our tongues should be used CONSISTENTLY in blessing others. We cannot be both fresh water and a salt water  that flows from a same spring. Neither we can be a fig tree that bears olives or a grapevine that bears figs. If we are about to praise God with our tongue, we should also bless others with it. 

Pastor Vic left us with some practical tips on how to tame our tongues. First, let's soak ourselves with the Word of God. James described tongue as restless and full of poison. We can actually detoxify our tongue if we saturate it with wisdom and knowledge which come from the Word of God. Second, let's practice building up others. Ephesians 4:29 says, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Lastly, THINK before you speak. Being reckless with the words that we speak is never an option. A lot of things can happen if our words will be sprouted from out of nowhere. It can lead us to nowhere too. It pays to be watchful with our mouths. 

But then again, James 3:8a says, "But no human being can tame the tongue". If we will only rely to our will in taming our tongue, we will fall short. Again, it is highly impossible. It is only by the grace of God that we could actually tame our tongues. 

Only God can control our tongues so that we can bless, encourage, build, and give blessing to others.