The Tongue, A Spiritual Delivery System
Thanks once again to Bud Hancock for another encouraging article, full of wisdom. If you feel wearied by this evil world be sure to check out Bud’s biography at the end of his article. It is a great testimony to perseverance over many years.
Gibber! Gibber!
Chugley
The Tongue, A Spiritual Delivery System
By Bud Hancock
Introduction
If you have allowed yourself to be convinced, or possibly convinced yourself, that words, especially your words, don’t matter, you are well on your way to being a helpless patsy. Strong words, right? They are meant to be due to the serious nature of being ignorant of God’s word. Don’t get me wrong, ignorance is not a sin, but when ignorance is chosen over knowledge, it can and will seriously affect anyone.
Humans differ from animals in many ways but possibly the most important difference is our ability to communicate using words. Words, whether spoken or written, are outward expressions of thought. Words, when spoken or written, bring into the open the hidden, unseen thoughts and ideas that are constantly forming in the human mind and/or being stored in the memory. The human brain is a magnificent computer that a person uses to form ideas, solve problems or communicate with others.
The True Source of Words
It is nearly impossible to overstate the value of words, especially when they are joined together with either true, living and aggressive faith, or overpowering fear. Remember in the Genesis account of the creation, when God had something that was in a spiritual form that He wanted to manifest into a physical form, what did He do? Read the entire first chapter of Genesis and count how many times God said, “Let something be”; every time He did so, that which had been in spiritual form suddenly took on physical form, and the ‘seen creation’ appeared from the ‘unseen’. By faith God created all that can be seen by using His faith-backed words.
Have you ever seen a spoken word? Of course not. Words are ‘spiritual in nature and no physical form when spoken. But, just as God caused physical manifestations by using spiritual words. The human tongue has the same power. Spoken words have the power to manifest good or evil, depending on the intent with which they are used.
If you’ve likely sat through a boring lecture by a monotone professor, as I have, and tried to stay awake, listening to that droning voice, you understand how much more effective a lecture can be by adding ‘words that can be seen’ to the spoken words. Spoken words are much more difficult to enter into one’s word storage system (the mind) simply because only one physical sense is being used to receive them. Just think how exciting and helpful it would be if we could see the words being spoken. What? There’s an ‘app’ for that? I will be searching for that on line today!
The true source of words is the human heart. Jesus said, “A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned” (Matthew 12:35-37 KJV)
Notice that Jesus called the heart content of both the ‘good man’ and the ‘evil man’, ‘treasure’. So, whether good or evil, every person has some kind of treasure in his or her heart. When the treasures accumulate to a ‘state of abundance’, they have a tendency to overflow; if good, they can accomplish wonderful things, but if evil they usually make a horrible mess depending on where they land.
Unfortunately, the good treasures tend to remain in the heart unless a ‘good’ person is moved by God’s Spirit to share them, allowing the good to appear, and unshared treasures are a terrible waste. So, when moved to do so, those good treasures should be allowed to bring joy, healing or hope to someone.
But how does one go about sharing them? Notice again in the scripture in Luke 6:45 above: “for of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaketh. Voila!! Here is where words come from and how they come into play. They are the means by which a person’s true thoughts, ideas and feelings are communicated to others.
Notice that, whatever the abundance consists of, it is set into motion by the human mouth or the tongue, using WORDS. I have held my opinion of the importance of words for most of my adult life, especially in the last thirty plus years of studying God’s word. I know that I was taught how important it was for me to be careful of my words, by both a mother and father who would not hesitate in the least to reinforce their teaching with a little physical follow-through when my words got out of hand. And now, I am so thankful for their teaching and also for the ‘reinforcement’.
The Tongue is a Fire
James, the half-brother of Jesus spoke much about the power of the tongue. In James 3:5-9, we read. “Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be” (James 3:5-9 KJV).
From James words we can deduce that he is talking about the tongue of an unsaved person who cannot control his tongue (his words), or a saved person who has never been taught how powerful, either for good, or for evil, our words are.
God’s word provides us with important information on the power of the tongue. From the writer of Proverbs:
“There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health.” (Proverbs 12:18 KJV)
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof” (Proverbs 18:21 KJV).
Justified or Condemned
But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned” (Matthew 12:36-37 KJV).
Exactly what did Jesus mean when he said, “By thy words thou shalt be justified”? Read Romans 10: 8-10 KJV: “But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
Notice that the ‘confession made with the mouth’ MUST be connected to the ‘believing with the heart’. They cannot be separated and still have any effect. Believing, or having faith in, while speaking words is what makes those words ‘active’, ‘energized’ or charged with power and that power has a tremendous effect. Remember that God, who spoke the words of creation recorded in Genesis had faith in His words and He used that faith to effect change and create the universe, by His power.
We are expected to use that same method to effect whatever change we desire and to use words for blessing others.
What did Jesus mean when He said, “and by thy words thou shalt be condemned”? In that same discourse, Jesus says, “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” The word ‘idle’ is Strong’s 692, argos’ (pronounced ar-gos’) and is derived from the negative particle and the word ergos (Strong’s 2041, ergon, (pronounced er-gon’) meaning to toil, to work, or to act. Jesus seems to be saying that our words must be backed by our faith (which is also HIS faith) in order to be activated, to work, to accomplish something. To sum it up, if our words are spoken without meaning and having no faith in them, they are considered idle, or useless and we are told that we will give an account of each of them on judgment day. Strong words indeed.
Conclusion
Our words have the capacity to bring life and they also have the power to bring death: “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof” (Proverbs 18:21 KJV). This is more true when speaking about the effect our words have on our own personal lives. If we constantly are speaking about our infirmities and weakness, we are missing an opportunity to change that situation by speaking words that will work against weakness and infirmity. The Psalms and Proverbs are loaded with such words and should be used, backed by our faith, in the battle against those enemies of our souls and bodies.
Since words are spiritual and have both the power of life and death in them, we must encourage ourselves to use them wisely, not in any idle form, but to put them to work spiritually in order to effect physical change where change is needed. God expects no less of each of us than to emulate Him and His Son Jesus Christ. Once you have learned to control your tongue (I include myself in this) there is no limit on what good can be accomplished by using your God-given Spiritual Delivery System!
Blessings!
Born and raised in a small textile town in North Carolina, Bud Hancock’s family moved to Michigan in the hope of finding better employment with General Motors. After graduating from high school, Bud began an apprenticeship with General Motors to become a Metal Modelmaker. Retiring after a 30 year career, which included an eight year stint as a Meteorologist, he and his wife moved back to North Carolina to be near his elderly parents. Shortly thereafter, with both of his parents having passed, he started a new career in the bank security/ATM business, advancing from an entry level technician to one of two North Carolina customer service managers for his employer. Retiring again after 13 years, he and his wife of 51 years relocated to Tennessee where Bud began writing articles specializing in Bible teaching and geopolitical issues. At age 75, he and his wife relocated to South Carolina with their Miniature Schnauzer, Baxter. Bud continues to study God’s word and write articles on Christian living and geopolitical issues from the Biblical end times perspective