The Dangerous Power Of Your Words | The Mouth Is A Weapon

i would like to remind you that your words have power what you say matters what you say has an effect over your life and the bible is very clear about this proverbs 18 verse 21 says death and life are in the power of the tongue and those who love it will eat its fruit proverbs chapter 12 verse 18 says there is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword but the tongue of the wise promotes health ephesians chapter 4 verse 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 all throughout the bible it's clear that what you say matters what you say about yourself matters the words you speak over your life matter david prayed in psalm 141 verse 3 saying set a guard o lord over my mouth keep watch over the door of my lips now i believe we all need to pray this prayer a guard has to be over our lips so that we do not bring unwanted consequences due to the words we speak i encourage you today to align your words align your speech with god's word there is power in declaring good things over yourself and there is even more power in declaring god's word over yourself begin to confess that surely goodness and mercy will follow me all of the days of my life confess that no weapon formed against me shall prosper and every tongue that speaks against me in judgment shall be condemned i encourage you to speak to make declarations that are in line with the word of god begin to say i have not been given a spirit of fear but i have been given a spirit of power love and a sound mind begin to say some trust in horses some trust in chariots but i trust in the name of the lord our words are so powerful and can change the world around us for good or set the world on fire for evil the book of james has a lot to say about how we use our words james 3 3-10 says if we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us we guide their whole bodies as well look at the ships also though they are so large and are driven by strong winds they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs so also the tongue is a small member yet it boasts of great things how great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire and the tongue is a fire a world of unrighteousness the tongue is set among our members staining the whole body setting on fire the entire course of life and set on fire by hell for every kind of beast and bird of reptile and sea creature can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind but no human being can tame the tongue it is a restless evil full of deadly poison with it we bless our lord and father and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of god from the same mouth come blessing and cursing my brothers these things ought not to be so if you have ever watched a horse racer you would see that they put a leather contraption called a bridle around the face of a horse the bridle has a little piece called the bit that goes into the horse's mouth the big horse is controlled by the little bit in its mouth just a gentle tug to the left on the bridle will send the horse in that direction that big beast is controlled by a little steel piece in its mouth called the bit a massive ship is also controlled by one of its smallest parts think of all the huge parts on a ship what really directs the boat it's the rudder a rudder is a device used for steering and maneuvering a ship or boat it's one of the smallest pieces but often it's the smallest things in our lives that have significant control over us the same is true with our tongue while comparatively small to most of our body it has more power to control our future than any other body part james compares our tongues to a forest fire and the fire of hell fire causes damage our words can cause damage as well the words you say can destroy relationships you have built your whole life you can say something in 30 seconds that will ruin your whole life or the life of those around you in verses 7 and 8 james talks about the power of humanity has shown to tame wild animals yet is still unable to tame the tongue think of all the great accomplishments humanity has made over the past 2000 years since james wrote this book we've flown to the moon created phones that can call people on the other side of the world and even created moving holograms however we have not found a way to control our tongue the same tongue that we use to praise god we often use to bring people down let's say you come up to me and tell me how great of a person you think i am i would be flattered and very thankful for the compliment however if the next moment you tell me you hate my kid i'd be full of anger even though you praised me it would not matter because you use your words to bring down my children we often do the same thing to god we praise him but then gossip about and discourage his children our words truly matter since they hold such weight in both our life and the life of those around us we should try to control our tongues one way to use our words for good is by giving encouraging messages to people the holy spirit lives inside every believer as a believer you may feel nudged to give an encouraging word to someone that is often the holy spirit prompting you to use your words for good another way we use our words for good is by keeping quiet proverbs 11 verse 12 reminds us that it's better to keep quiet than to talk about your neighbor if you're going to gossip or say something hurtful it may be best to keep that to yourself we can also use our words for good by having hard conversations with people in matthew 18 we see that sometimes we need to talk to people when they sin we need to keep in mind that we need to speak with love and care when having hard conversations instead of coming from a place of judgment and self-righteousness it is not just about what you say but how you say it the truth is that at some point in our life we will use our words to cause evil whether that be by discouraging our spouse gossiping about a friend or talking harshly to a neighbor we will have earthly consequences for those words but those words will also qualify someone to enter hell because when we speak maliciously against our neighbor we're not only sinning against a human but also sinning against a holy god but there is one who has always used his words for good where you and i tore down our neighbor he lifted them up when you and i gossiped about a friend he always told the truth where you and i assassinated someone with our words his words led to life that person is jesus in jesus we find forgiveness for our life-crushing words not just that in jesus we find a way to control our tongue as you grow in a relationship with jesus he changes your heart which will change the way you speak so i encourage you to come to the one who can cause you to speak words of life to those around you [Music] let me tell you something if you didn't know 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