“Death and life are in the power of the tongue…”
—Proverbs 18:21
I can remember a time where about the only way we had to communicate was a rotary dial phone, or maybe snail mail. Look at today, and the advances are beyond the invention of the Gutenberg Press and the printing press that so dramatically changed the world and the culture in that day. We are living in an age of information and communication.
Despite the technology we have, we often fail in the relationships that require communication the most in our marriages, our homes, our families.
Now, it shouldn’t surprise you that the wise man, Solomon, who gave us the book of Proverbs, had quite a bit to say about communication.
There is incredible power in the spoken word, when that word is used for God. It is like taking a deep drink in the depths of our souls. It is a fountain of life, this word.
It says there is both the power of life and the power of death in the tongue. There is the power to bless and the power to curse. There is the power to build up with words and the power to break apart and tear down with words. But, we must use our words to bring about healing and help and trust, because our words can transform; words can transform your family.
GOD HAS GIVEN US THIS WONDERFUL ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE
Thursday, February 07, 2019
by Dr. Paul Chappell
“And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence. Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid, And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?”
Nehemiah 2:1-3
In one of the early Peanuts cartoons, Lucy looks at Charlie Brown and says, “I'm not sure what happiness means, but I look in your eyes and I know that it isn't there.” It is easy to look around our society and see people with sorrow in their hearts. This is one of the main reasons behind the growing use of alcohol and drugs and the increase in immorality. People try to drown out the pain in their hearts with some form of pleasure rather than turn to God, but that never works. In the United States, where the suicide rate had been stable or declining for decades, it has begun to rise again.
There is no earthly cure for hurting human hearts. For the physical heart there are all kinds of medicines, exercise programs, and surgeries; but for the spiritual heart, only God's grace can help. Apart from Him, we will never find a real and lasting cure for sorrow. Sin brought death and suffering into the world, and only God has the answer for sin. “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26).
As Christians, we still endure times of sorrow and suffering. We live in a fallen world filled with physical and emotional pain. And sometimes, like Nehemiah, we experience sorrow specifically because of the spiritual needs around us. Yet, as Christians, we also have God’s promises to be with us and to give us a joy that reaches even deeper than sorrow.
Today's Growth Principle:
Jesus is the cure for the sorrowful hearts all around us.
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