THE POWER OF WORDS

In the Book of James we find the following admonition.

“If any man appear religious, but cannot control his own tongue, he deceives himself, and his religion is vain.” (1:26)

There is great power in words. Once heard they cannot be unheard. Once delivered they cannot be undelivered. 

Something which occurred tonight made me think about the power of a word. 

My wife was ‘on’ her smart phone, and she happened to have it set on the ‘look up’ screen, and I was lying on the couch; perhaps ten feet away. Well, I was talking about the unedited version of “Rain Man” (the video) which I was watching on ‘The Movie Channel.’ And when, over the course of a few minutes, Tom Cruise spit out a couple of ‘GD’s’ and a couple of ‘F words,’ I exclaimed,

“That movie is just plain raunchy!”

Well, I had no sooner made the statement than my wife’s smart phone kicked into gear, and a disembodied voice filled the air.

“Raunchy. According to Wikipedia the word “Raunchy means vulgar, unfit for human consumption, rotten, spoiled…”

You can imagine my surprise.

The spoken word

Words we would like to take back, but we can’t. Words which will be ingrained in the psyches of those who heard us speak, as long as they draw breath. Words hurt. The old adage, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me” is ‘cow manure in a chef salad.’

Jesus made the statement, “My words are spirit and they are life.” Well, words can also be spirit and… death; depending on the content and the agenda behind those words.

God knows, I’ve sometimes been hurt by words.

Words too casually uttered. Purposefully vindictive words. Words simply misunderstood and not clarified. For that matter, words not spoken which should have been spoken.

People who have never learned to channel their words, or to subtract enough words from their vocabulary. 

The power of the spoken word

Why, only yesterday I was ‘going on’ about the recent presidential election, and given the extended audience who were privy to my monologue, someone ‘shushed’ me. 

Well, I immediately pled my First Amendment rights to free speech, and said something I didn’t mean.

“I don’t care about people!”

Which only substantiates my present premise for I meant to say,

“I don’t care about people’s opinions!”

(And honestly, the older I get the less I care about people’s perspectives of my perspectives).

But upon reflection, I messaged each individual in my ‘inner circle,’ and referencing what I actually said, clarified exactly what I meant to say.

The power, the impact of the spoken word

God grant that my life and words never come across as 

 …‘raunchy.’ But may I glorify Thee in all I do and say.


  By William McDonald, PhD. Excerpt from "(Mc)Donald's Daily Diary. Vol. 46. Copyright pending
 
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