1 Samuel 3:19
And he let none of his words fall to the ground.
We all know how powerful words are. They can uplift and they can tear down. They can bring joy or they can bring fear. They can be soothing as a mothers song or harsh as a drill sergeants rant.
What toddler hasn’t cried at the word “no”?
What husband hasn’t groaned at the words “We need to talk”?
Who doesn’t appreciate a simple “please” or “thanks”?
When does Jesus not adore our verbal cries to Him?
One single word can change the course of our day, or even of our life. The weatherman says “rain” and we put a coat on. A cancer patient hears “cured” and makes plans for their life.
Words not only effect others, but they paint a picture of our personality. Use your words carefully and I see you as a thoughtful and intelligent person. Throw around nonsense and the F-bomb and I see you as a ignorant idiot. Which may or may not be true in either case, but your words are an impression you leave with someone.
We use words casually, thoughtlessly, and flippantly sometimes. At least I do. Sarcasm and facetious-ness are my specialty! But not ones that I’m necessarily proud of. In fact, I like to call it “witty” instead! I tend to let my temper take control of my mouth when I'm frustrated. Like when my precious off-spring color on my kitchen cabinets with a Sharpie. Or when my dogs forget they are housebroke and that the mudroom is part of the house. With three kids and two dogs my angry, raised voice is not uncommon in my house and now my kids, who have learned by example, are picking up the habit which only makes it that much more important to me that I start speaking more like Samuel.
It says that none of his words fell to the ground. NONE! Not even when he stubbed his toe on the bedpost in the middle of the night! ALL of his words flew up on pretty wings, NONE of them came out like explosive cannon balls.
I would much rather my words came flying out of my mouth in a sparkly flutter than come hurdling out like rocks. Because rocks hurt when they fall out of the sky, I’m sure. I’ve seen my kids’ faces when I speak harshly to them. It definitely wasn’t a butterfly that made them look that way.
In Matthew 12:36 it says “But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.”
So now, not only am I hurting others with words, I’m also acquiring quite the rap sheet. I don’t know about you, but I’d personally like to have a lot of my words stricken from the records instead of having to answer for each and every one of them. I don’t suppose that is possible, but I think grace can cover my past and from now on I will sure try to make sure that NONE of my words fall to the ground!
