Highlighting – “With his mouth the godless man destroys his neighbor, but through knowledge the righteous will be delivered.” (v.9)
It amazes me how often we make backhanded compliments, which is an insult with a smile. The tongue is untamable. In James 3, the first 12 verses are dedicated to describing the power of the tongue and our inability to tame it. The tongue can bring life or death, which is why I believe David says to keep your tongue from evil and lips from speaking deceit, and requests that God guard his tongue in Psalm 34 and 141, respectively. We will be held accountable for every word that comes out of our mouths (Matthew 12:36).
Paul admonishes us in Ephesians 4:29 to, “let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.” I will provide definitions for certain words for mutual understanding. What does unwholesome mean? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary “detrimental to physical, mental, or moral well-being”. So, when you say something unwholesome about someone, you destroyeth thy neighbor, due to the word’s effects on that person. What does edify mean? Edify is to “instruct or improve (someone) morally or intellectually”. How do we apply this teaching? We speak words that will bring life to someone who might be dead in sin, by helping them see their sin and leading them back/to the path of righteousness, according to the need of the moment. Unfortunately, we sing praises to God and worship Him, while we slander our neighbors at the same time (James 3:8 – 10). We must do better, we must mature in Christ.
I remember hearing a testimony from a person who overcame words of hurt. Their family would often say hurtful things to them causing them to be insecure and deem themselves unworthy of life. But they found Jesus, who restored their confidence and made them complete, giving them a sense of worth again. As the text says, the godless man destroys his neighbor. Whether we’re speaking to someone’s face or behind their back, depending on what we say our words can cause so much damage, but if we would just think before we speak. Thank God for His abundant grace and mercy that allows us a new opportunity every single day to try to live our lives as He wants us to. May we truly submit to the Holy Spirit, who gives us discipline to live as Jesus did. We cannot do anything righteous apart from Jesus (John 15:5).
Proverbs 16:28 says, “A perverse man spreads strife, and a slanderer separates intimate friends.” May we realize the power of our words and their ability to cause division and dissension among brothers and sisters.
Let’s choose today to edify others with our words and encourage. Let’s choose life. It feels so much better than destroying…it really does.
Please pray according to what your heart needs after reading this devotion. God bless you abundantly!
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