Words are extremely powerful because words ushered in the creation of the universe. Words still have creative power today and carry the fullness of our hearts message. Never has a greater lie been spoken than “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” Conversely, Proverbs 18:21 states, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue. And they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” Are you ready to change your life for the better? Then it all starts with that slippery organ one inch below your nose…your tongue! Join Carl now, as he shares the importance of your heart and mouth being in alignment and speaking God’s word over your life…
Here is a complete transcript of the podcast…(below)
You know today I’d like to remind you that we’ve established that faith comes by hearing (Rom 10:17) and we’ve also discussed how faith can be shut down by not obeying our conscience. But today I’d like to talk about the importance of words, especially what you say, about yourself. What we say is very important. What we say about ourselves is arguably even more important because we believe what we say about us more than what anyone else says about us. If you don’t think that what you say over your life is important, let’s check out this verse in the Book of James,26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain” -James 1:26.
Notice how important the tongue is in this passage but notice also that the heart can actually be deceived. If we don’t bridle our tongue, we will deceive our own heart. If our heart is deceived, we will struggle; we will struggle to believe our own words and our religion will be in vain. The word vain here in the Greek is mataios, which means futile, worthless or useless. The bottom line is that if you think you can let your tongue run riot unrestrained, your Christian walk will become worthless. Friend, we don’t want that to happen, we want to be a good witness to other people and not let our salt be trampled underfoot. A tongue that says one thing and does something else is called a “forward” tongue in the bible. We need to have a bit of a John Wayne spirit if you know what I mean, we need to say what we mean and mean what we say. A froward tongue is perverse in the sight of God. Over time if you keep sowing sarcasm into your spirit and things you don’t mean into your heart, you will even begin to doubt what you say yourself. There’s a saying and it’s true, that “if you tell a lie for long enough it will become true to you“. Friend, this is evidence of sowing perversion into your heart because faith comes by hearing and hearing, whether it’s the word of God or the words of the devil.
When you reach out and say, “Be healed I Jesus name”, your spirit man on the inside will be like, did he really mean that? or was he being sarcastic again? The word, ‘Froward’, also means unreliable. It’s a tongue that is slippery and can go both ways or a double forked tongue, and no-one wants that. A definition of perverse is, “turned away from what is right or good”. When your tongue starts to turn away from what it was designed for, which is declaring the truth and speaking God’s word, then you’re turning away from what is right or good. The book of proverbs has some stern stuff to say about a froward tongue and many people don’t want to listen to these scriptures because they don’t want to be accountable for what comes out of their mouths, or they like to cut down or criticize people behind their backs. Let’s read some of these scriptures together right now…
Proverbs 10:31– “The mouth of the just bringeth forth wisdom: but the froward tongue shall be cut out.
Proverbs 17:20- “He that hath a froward heart findeth no good: and he that hath a perverse tongue falleth into mischief.”
Proverbs 15:4 – “A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: But perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.”
Proverbs 12:14 – “A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth.”
Proverbs 13:2 – “A man shall eat good by the fruit of his mouth.”
Jesus’ heart and mouth were in total alignment, never once did he speak a sarcastic word or exhibit perverse speech, so when he said, “Rise up and walk”, he meant it and his heart believed it, his words were powerful and impactful because his heart and mouth were in alignment. We’re reminded of the statement by the centurion when he said of Jesus, “No man spoke like this man” (Jn 7:46). Jesus spoke with authority…but you also have authority…over sickness disease, the devil and demon forces. If your tongue is forward, then it’s misaligned and it won’t produce a heart of integrity which will manifest your faith in times when you need it the most. I’m reminded of the great Winston Churchill and Prime Minister of Great Britain during the Second World War. Now, during the darkest period of the War, he would personally call up his submarine captains each time they had a special mission, and he would ask them this, “Are you going to sink that ship?”, some would reply that they would do their best or give it their all…but he made it known to them, this was not an answer, but merely speculation. He would ask them a second time, “are you going to sink that ship, yes, or no?” He knew the power of words and especially a personal commitment to them because once someone had given their word to the Prime Minister; they were doubly committed to do what they said they were going to do. Even the world knows the value of a man or woman who stays true to their word, and they will respect him for it. Let’s look now in more detail at the book of James, concerning the power of the tongue:
“My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. 2 For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. 3 Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.
4 Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. 5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
7 For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: 8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be”- James 3:1-10.
Although it says in this passage that no man can tame the tongue, it can be tamed by the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit lives in us, Amen. Think about that, those of us who’ve struggled to control our tongue can do so by the help of the Holy Spirit. Heck I know I’ve struggled down the years with saying some things I shouldn’t have. As believers, we are held to a higher standard of what comes out of our mouths, because the words we use as Christians have more authority behind them than others. The tongue is very influential even though it is such a small member in relation to our entire body. In the case of the bridle of the horse and rudder of the ship, both of these are instruments of guidance. In other words, the tongue sets the course for our entire lives, even though it is such a small member and guides us to smoother waters or dangerous rocks.
Friends, chart a good course with your tongue, starting today, let it guide you in the right places. Remember the tongue is not meant to be reactive but pro-active, we are to speak blessings over our lives in line with God’s word, in order to see them manifest. Words contain blessing and cursing. If you saw a captain of a ship standing behind the rudder of the ship shouting out, we’re gonna hot the harbor, we’re gonna hit the harbor, you would think he is crazy. All he has to do is steer the rudder in a different direction to avoid the harbor. But it’s the same for us, all we’re saying is, I can never get a breakthrough, I always run out of money, I can never get promoted, I will always be sick, friend it’s the same craziness. Change the direction of the rudder to change the course of the ship, change what’s coming out of your mouth, to set a new course for your life. Words are carrier’s friend. Words are carriers of the heart, what is in your heart will come out of your mouth eventually. This is what Jesus said, 34 “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh “(Matthew 12:34).
Let me ask you this, where do good things come from? Lapland, Never Neverland, Disneyland? Where do good things come from?…The heart. Where do evil things come from?...the heart.
17 “Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? 18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: 20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man” – Matthew 15:17-20.
45 “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh” – Luke 6:45.
Friend, our words can have a major impact on our lives, so much so that if the tongue is restrained, we can start to bring forth good things in our lives. One time the disciples asked Jesus for more faith, and this is how he responded, Luke 17:5-6 5 “And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.6 And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.”
Notice here that Jesus said the inanimate object would obey you, not Jesus. He said that one of the ways for your faith to grow is to speak the obstacle; to put it into practice…what obstacles do you have in your life right now? Debt? Disease? Wounding of the heart? Bad relationships? sickness? pain?…yes friends it’s time we took authority over the situation and spoke to them and commanded them to leave. But the truth is Jesus said that obstacles in our path would obey us (not Jesus).
When you start applying these principles of speaking to obstacles in your own life, persecution can come, and it might seem strange that you are doing it in the first place. But let me ask you this, what is the alternative? You can carry on as you are, cursing your own future by using absolutes in your vocabulary, like I can NEVER get a breakthrough, I ALWAYS seem to get sick this time of year. I CAN’T do this, I CAN’T do this, I will NEVER be able to etc. etc. you fill in the blanks my friend, you know what you’ve spoken over yourself in the darkness when no-one is watching. Friend, it’s time to change what you are saying about yourselves and to other people whether it’s behind their backs or in front of their face.
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