Don't, Don't, Don't...What about DO?!

Hang with me while I remind you of some fairly popular passages:

James 3:6-12 (Excerpts) "The tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell...no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing..."

Ephesians 4:29 "Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up..

There are many more, but for the sake of time, we'll leave it there. You get the point, and you know what I'm referring to. We hear all the time about the importance of guarding your tongue, watching your speech, how dangerous the tongue is, etc. All these things are true and I couldn't agree more. I'm a writer, I deal in the economy of words. But I feel like I have a little different perspective that most of us tend to overlook.

We are told our words hold the power of life and death, and we're cautioned to contain the death. What about the life?

One of the bigger frustrations you'll hear from a lot of believers is how we focus on the do not's (don't smoke, don't drink, and don't say the word sex) but we don't focus near as much on the do's.
 

If we're doing the "do's" we won't be doing the "do not's", it's a win/win.
 

Back to our words. Words were meant to have power. We see this modelled from our Creator. He spoke and things happened. Things were created. Life was started. Relationship was developed. Identity and purpose were given. Humans, being created in the image and likeness of God, are the only piece of creation to use words. Many things communicate in many ways, we alone have words.

How are we using our words? Not just how well are we containing our negative words, but how are we being intentional with speaking life and truth into those around us?
 

If our words truly hold the power of life and death, and if we are truly ambassadors of Christ, and if we really truly believe that we are surrounded by people who are dying and in need of the hope of the gospel- why aren't we using our words?

Maybe you struggle with containing negative words. Even though I'm an introvert, I get it. My words don't always vocalize, but they are always taking on a very LOUD thought form. Then there is the aspect of social media, it's so easy to 'speak' whatever junk is in my heart on that current day. Maybe you don't struggle with that at all but you talk about pointless things and never consider being intentional with your words. Maybe you're consistently speaking 'good' things, spiritual things, but you're not directing them into anyones life...they're just floating around out there.

We have to get intentional. Don't know where to start in being intentional? Intentionally pray. He will show you.

Where do you struggle most with words?