Dyed with Words

Paul Tripp in his book, War of Words says, “Every day of our lives is filled with talk. Every moment is infected with talk. Every relationship and situation is dyed with words.” What we say and how we say them literally stains every aspect of our lives.

Sometimes that bit of color is beautiful, expressed from the heart and meaningful. Proverbs 15:4 says that a gentle tongue is a tree of LIFE and that gracious words are pure in His sight. With kind words, we breathe life and joy into those around us.

But all too often our words are used like weapons to make our point. We shoot from the hip so to speak and our aim is accurate. Too often someone we care about is wounded by the nouns, verbs, and adverbs we hurriedly string together.

The real problem though isn’t the sounds that come out of our mouths. Luke 6:45 declares that “the mouth speaks what the heart is full of…”

If our heart is tainted with anger and frustration, if we are consumed with hurtful thoughts, or impatient with the world at large,  it’s going to come out. If we are rushing to conclusions, not considering the ramifications of our retorts, the person in front of us gets a barrage of our irritation. That anger, frustration, and irritation all stem from a preoccupation with self.

My heart reflects the real me and it is displayed in my conversations.

Proverbs says that a man (or woman) of understanding holds his tongue. We don’t hold it between our fingers and murmur like that parlor game, we hold the words in abeyance until our mind and spirit have confirmed them. Pausing just for a milli-second to gather our thoughts and consider our audience can make a huge difference.

So this week, let’s all consider how we are coloring our world. Since every relationship and every situation is dyed by our words, let’s parse them out with good judgment.

A kindness here. An encouragement there. A bit of comfort for him. Some joy spread liberally over our children. Some affirmations for our colleagues. And some gratitude for our Savior.

Once again, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you O Lord” (Ps. 19;14).