Words Matter

Words Matter. Matthew 12.31-37

“Oh, I am so sick of your behavior! You’re so lazy—why can’t you be more like your brother? I’m not sure you are ever going to amount to anything!” Ouch. Did the mother just say that? She collected herself later and went back into her 13-year-old son’s room, saying, “Hey, you know I didn’t mean that, right? I was just exasperated—had a hard day, right? Sorry, Bobby.” “Yeah, okay, Mom…” but do you think it was really okay? Heck no. His mother’s words would replay over and over in his mind. Words that have been spoken, words that have been heard, can never be un-heard.

“Hon, maybe you could take off a few pounds, huh? I saw Stacy at the gym the other day, and she’s looking good; don’t you want to go work out? It wouldn’t take much, but you would look good if you lost some weight.” The husband didn’t even notice that his wife almost visibly winced… and the impact of his words? Well, she could not get them out of her mind.

That’s because words matter . . . they truly do.

In seven short verses, Jesus had a lot to say about what we say.

“So I tell you, every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven—except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven. Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come.” Frankly, there is some divide on what Jesus meant by blasphemy—here is what I believe: the word blasphemy is generally defined as “defiant irreverence,” and can be applied to sins like cursing God or willfully degrading things relating to God. It is also attributing some evil to God, or denying him the good that we should attribute to Him… The blasphemy of the Spirit today, which is the same as the unpardonable sin, is the state of continued unbelief. There is no pardon for a person who dies in unbelief. Continual rejection of the Holy Spirit’s promptings to trust in Jesus Christ is the unpardonable blasphemy against Him.1

Jesus continued:

“A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad. You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart.” One thing about Jesus—he did not mince words. He said what he meant, and he meant what he said. Jesus never had to go back to folks and say, ‘hey uh, guys, you know I was just a little worked over by the crowd—sorry I was so rough on you.’ Look again at Jesus’ words– If a tree is good, its fruit will be good, or like the psalmist said, ‘a tree planted by streams of living water bears good fruit.2

What you think about,

what is in your heart,

will eventually find its way to your lips.

Jesus concludes his thoughts with serious warning:

And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.”

Yikes, can I tell you that these verses have kept me awake at night?

you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak ---

utt oh. So how about if we stop, take a breath, before we speak? Take a look at what Paul told the church at Ephesus: Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouth but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs,

that it may benefit those who listen.3 Oh, that we may not just read these words, or hear these words, but indeed take them to heart.

O God in Heaven, move us—indeed, inspire us to want to be like Jesus who spoke only what the Father gave him to say.4 Cause us to stop and think before we say things that might injure another or dishonor you. You were the author of speech, so teach us to craft our speech a little more carefully, Creator God. Amen.

Christine
PasrorWoman.com


1 – Got Questions.org

2 – Psalm 1.3

3 –Ephesians 4.29

4 – John 5.19