It’s WORDS WEEK here on GUWG, where we’re examining what God says about communication.
Whoever said “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me” was a big liar. Here’s what the Bible says:
The tongue has the power
of life and death.
(Proverbs 18:21)
The words of the reckless
pierce like swords,
but the tongue of the wise
brings healing.
(Proverbs 12:18)
Our words can fatally wound – they can stab, pierce and slash the ♥s of those around us. They can destroy friendships, kill marriages, bring down companies, ruin churches and start wars.
To help avoid all that devastation and destruction, we’ll spend the rest of the week probing perhaps the greatest collection of communication advice in the history of the universe: the Book of Proverbs. Here’s a handy graphic we’ll use to guide our discussion, a little something we call the PROVERB-O-RAMA WHEEL OF WORDS:
Just a quick recap …
We started the week with our key verse, straight from Jesus: “The mouth speaks what the ♥ is full of.” Then yesterday, we discussed how we should always fill up with the Spirit before even thinking about opening our mouths. That’s what the ♥ and the flame in the middle of the diagram represent. Always always always start the communication process there.
Once God fills your ♥ and gives you words to share with the world, the outer circles represent what the Bible says about what should come out of our mouths. We’ll begin today at the top with FEW.
Here’s today’s Proverb:
When words are many,
sin is not absent,
but he who holds his tongue
is wise.
(Proverbs 10:19)
Ask God to help you tame your tongue today. Keep your words few. And when you do speak, make sure it’s with words of LOVE.
It’s truly a matter of life and death.
Discussion