the shoulders nonchalantly behind our burning anger . Yet , nonbelievers will poke and prod until they find something to strike a nerve causing anger to present itself on our part . When they do this , they celebrate with a smirk and an air of victory on their face . Their eyes gloss over with gleethey pushed the right buttons to cause us to step aside from our charge of being loving and kind . We react . In a moment , we can change from a gentle lamb into a roaring lion in response to the hate mongers casting out hateful words to us .
“ Death and life are in the power of the tongue : and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof ” ( Proverbs 18:21 , KJV ). The tongue is a powerful tool . It can be used for good or evil . It can bring joy or it can destroy . The tongue can be evil and yet , it can bring the power of love . Use it in anger and it will spill venom . Use it in love and it will build a person up . Controlling the tongue in anger will be successful by staying in the Lord and listening to the Holy Spirit as He speaks to you . Ephesians 4:29 tells us , “ Let no corrupt communication proceed
out of your mouth , but that which is good to the use of edifying , that it may minister grace unto the hearers .” God knows the heart of man . He knows man is prone to do evil if left unchecked . Man , since the fall , seeks selfishness in their hearts , and only through the love of God can man overcome this propensity . This of course , is easier said than done . We get emotional and hurtful words can spill out our mouths causing hurt feelings or distance in relationships .
Words can hurt . Words have caused wars . Words have caused strife . They have hurt loved ones . Our tongues are weapons , no doubt about it . We ’ ve been told to watch our tongues by our parents . Think before you speak is an adage learned over time . We ’ ve practiced walking away before speaking and know once a word comes out , it cannot be taken back . As a perpetrator or victim of hurtful and offensive words , being in either role is a reminder of the viciousness of language . Physical wounds will heal and will become a memory , but hurtful words will always be remembered with emotions tied to them .
God didn ’ t address the use of our language as an afterthought . No , He knew the tongue can spit out evil . He knows our tongues are prone to reflect the fallen state of man . Words coming from the mouth of men have inspired riots . The poison coming off the tip of tongues have inspired others to commit atrocities . The tongue has led to the death of people and relationships . Those who know the power of the tongue and are evil , use offensive language to spread hate and discontent .
This is not a contemporary phenomenon either . Look at Jesus . When did Jesus not face hateful and offensive language in His travels ? The Pharisees tried to stop the message of Christ with condemning words and murderous slander and speech . They used words to try to contradict Jesus , to trick Jesus , and ultimately used words to kill Jesus . How did Jesus respond to these attacks ? A lot better than we do . He could have smitten them to oblivion . He could have returned hateful words . He didn ’ t do this .