The words we use say who we are.

 

We read in James 3: 9-12:

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.  Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and saltwater flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

 

James is telling us that our words say very important things about who we are, because it reveals what is in our hearts. It shows whether our hearts are fresh, life-giving and uniting, or salty and the source of death. Our words reveal whether our in faith in Christ is alive, or dead!

 

We are called to be Christ-like to experience a faith that is alive, can be shared with others, transform us and bind us into the family of God.

When we own a faith that is alive in Christ, we speak words that build up and unite the church, words that set people free, forgive them and create joy, peace, self-confidence, a positive self-image, faith, hope and love. Words spoken in true faith change our lives and the lives of many others into deliverance, redemption, blessings and hope.

 

What we say, reveals who we are. It is the barometer of our souls and the indicator of whether we experience faith that changes and transforms us and others.

 

We need to listen to our own words.

Just like fresh and salty water cannot come from the same spring, so godly words and unholy destructive, divisive words cannot come from the same heart.

Our words show the state of our spiritual life, because true praise of God cannot come from a mouth that curses and breaks down people and the church and spreads the fires of hell.