Power of the Tongue

Ok…I know that I say all the time…”I don’t watch TV”…well, maybe I should say, “Compared to statistics I watch very little TV”….like 10% of what the average person watches…

With that being said…my favorite television show is…”Forensic Files” …I love it. I have a fascination with the progress made in science especially in the area of DNA….the study of “blood spatter” in particular, I could go on and on. Today they are solving 20- to 30-year old murder cases because of new technology and the progress that has been made in analyzing DNA. Many “cold” and “old” cases have been opened and solved. People who have walked free for years but are truly guilty of heinous crimes are now…being brought to justice. Praise God!

The way in which some murderers set up their crime to look like a suicide have been exposed through the study of blood splatter. To “self-inflict” a fatal wound could not possibly produce the “blood splatter” found at some death scenes. These crimes are now being exposed as “homicide” scenes. Just fascinating.

I will admit….I am not into violence or gore…I am not a real fan of seeing blood splattered all over walls or bathtubs…but I am enthralled by science and the study of uncovering “wrongdoing!”…murder!! I love how they can use a special light to shine on an area and expose….the cover-up and clean up of blood, even when, to the “naked” eye, things look Mr. Clean. Real Clean. When they shine the uv light though, you see where the “blood” has been and the “cover-up!”……………Makes me think of this………

How many times do our words, tone of voice, or body language leave a “blood splatter”? The cover-up could be…”I was only joking.” Or, getting up the next morning and “pretending it didn’t happen.” Or, “being overly nice the next time/day/hour…hoping…that will mop up the blood splatter.” In each cover up, ignoring the need to apologize or not being willing to acknowledge wrong has occurred.

I can honestly say…I am guilty of doing all of the above……hopefully…not anymore…but sin is sin. I am not only calling myself out, but I am calling you, the reader, out! I believe, if we look, we will find there is a feeling of guilt, or maybe a better word would be “conviction,” over our hands/mouths being guilty of splattering someone else’s blood. Words, I believe, are the biggest wounders, not knives or guns. They are the silent killers…that leave “blood splatters” which only the special light of a Holy God can uncover!

It blows my minds that if the “wound” is not visible to the naked eye….then I/you/we feel we can just walk away….ignoring the “blood splatters” left behind. The tongue is the sharpest “knife” in the world…it can cut and kill….and leave a bigger, more damaging….messier blood bath than anything you can imagine… dead spirits for sure.

Proverbs 18:21, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it.”

James 1:26, “If any man among you seems to be religious, and bridleth NOT his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.” Our own fleshly hearts DECEIVE us…..we can self-evaluate, self-justify, and ignore our words….but when we take them before a pure, clean, perfect, Holy God–“the special light” that exposes our cover-up–we find “blood spatter” everywhere.

I encourage you today……to get alone…to think of no one…but yourself….ask God, who can and will reveal all things, (Daniel 2:22, “He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him.”) to show you not only the “power” of your tongue, but how, when surrendered to Him daily and hourly, the tongue can be used for:

healing,
nurturing,
encouraging,
uplifting,
supporting,
understanding others, and
gently exposing wrong–which is necessary too!

There is much power in the tongue and one day…..we will have to give an account of every word spoken……see Matthew 12:36…….The only way we can use our tongue to bring good is by allowing God to tame it.

James 3:8, “But the tongue can NO man tame, it is an unruly evil full of deadly poison.” Invite God to take charge of your tongue. Allow Him to forgive and cleanse the “small muscle” that has the power to destroy. He can use our tongues to promote GREAT THINGS, but only when surrendered and controlled by HIM.

Look at it like this–Your life is a movie in which you are the main character. You say the script and act out the lines you have written…the camera is always rolling, 24/7. It is only God who has the ability to splice and edit the film—-and offer the help needed to produce a “BLOCKBUSTER” film.

If that film were shown today, what would others see? Do you use your tongue to bless or wound?

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