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I wonder what percentage of the human population has been wiped out because of cancerous human words. I wonder what percentage of people’s souls have been crushed because of words—said by an impossible-to-please parent, a cruel upperclassman, an unkind teacher, an abusive relative, a back-stabbing so-called “friend.” It’s probably a lot of the human population—and a lot of the human soul.
“Death . . . is in the power of the tongue.” (Proverbs 18:21, NASB)
If you’ve said words that hurt people, and you’ve seen it in their eyes (and we’ve all been guilty), there are two things you need to do for next time:
First, if you don’t want your words to wound, pray.
“Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips.” (Psalm 141:3, NASB)
If there’s someone to whom you often end up saying hurtful things, pray first. This could be a coworker, a parent, a sibling, etc. Someday, it may be your spouse or kids. The relationship is worth it, so before you accidentally wield your words as a weapon, pray.
Second, if you don’t want your words to wound, listen.
Speaking personally, growing up, when I did something stupid, my parents often had me write the same Bible verse over and over. Doing the math, I probably wrote this verse a couple thousand times:
“This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger.” (James 1:19, NASB)
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