.....tongue

The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit Proverbs 18:21

None of us could go back and count the number of words we have said to people throughout our lives. That would be impossible to remember. We have all said words that are very encouraging to others, but we have also said words that have been callous, discouraging, unkind, or hurtful. I don't know about you, but I know that I've said some things to people in my lifetime that I would go back in a minute to take back or rephrase. 

We are human beings. Many times, we don't realize what we're saying to people or how our tone is coming across. It's not always "what" we say, sometimes it's more of "how" we say it. I had to learn this growing up and will probably be learning it for the rest of my life! This is a topic that each of us can relate to.  The Bible says no one is exempt.

Communication is such an important part of life. Certainly in marriage, but not just in marriage.  We all use communication in our various relationships with others. Sometimes, we end up verbally hurting the ones we love the most. I might be in a cranky mood and I get snappy. Or there are just times when the enemy uses a situation to bring hurtful words to my mouth and they don't need to be uttered at all, but I fail to keep them back. Once they're out, that's it! No getting them back!

The power of our tongues can either build others up or tear them apart and create permanent damage. By God's grace, we all need to work harder at controlling what we say and knowing how to say things - and when not to say things. We will be learning this lesson throughout our lives, but we can become better as we come to love Christ more and carefully use uplifting words toward each other. Especially during the times of frustration and discouragement.

- adapted from zach wood's