September 26

Isaiah 48:12-50:11; Ephesians 4:17-32; Psalm 69:1-18; Proverbs 24:5-6

I am going to try to resist writing all about Isaiah today. It’s very hard to do because each day I am so struck by God’s majesty and his splendor portrayed in our passages. And who can escape getting excited about words that talk about how dear we are to God such as, “The Lord called me from the womb…I have engraved you on the palms of my hands” (Is. 49:1,16)? I just want to lift my hands and praise every time I read Isaiah these days. But wait, I was going to resist. Yes, here we go.

Let’s talk instead about our tongue. I am often struck by how many times Scripture addresses our tongue. We see it talked about frequently in Psalms and Proverbs; in the gospels, Jesus addresses the issue of our tongue and words; and now we will see it mentioned over and over again in the epistles as we read through them. Why, I wonder? Probably because it’s such a big issue. It was then, and it is now. Our words have such incredible power for destruction or for building and restoring others. We all know this, but we probably don’t realize the sheer power of our words. That’s why Scripture reminds us over and over and over again.

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs” (Eph. 4:29).

What if every word out of our mouths was truly only helpful for building others up according to their needs? How radical would that be. How far I am from this. Lord, have mercy. I like how Paul talks about using words according to the individual. We don’t just say meaningless platitudes, but thoughtful, appropriate and edifying words. This takes intention and practice.

A few years back I decided to give up harsh words for the Lent season. Not something people usually think of giving up when it comes to Lent. But I was convicted that my thoughtless and sometimes harsh words were keeping me from walking with the Lord in the way that I wanted to. It was also causing destruction within my marriage and my family.

This was a difficult discipline for me. I just wanted to say what I wanted to say, what I often felt so justified in saying. Yet I don’t want to destroy those I love the most. My words are so powerful in the lives of my children and husband. It’s a discipline to use them for building. We need help from the Lord in controlling our tongue. We were sealed with the Holy Spirit and he enables us to get rid of the bitterness, rage, anger, and slander.

Lord, help us to use our tongues and words to only build and not to destroy. May we be “kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave [us]” (Eph. 4:32).

- Mary Matthias

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