MCC Podcasts
Love - The Power of Words
We are in the middle of this love series and this morning the title of our sermon is love and the power of words. Love and the power of words. We have to talk about the power of words if we're going to talk about how to love. There's power in our words. Now sometimes words get a little bit of a bad, a short, what's the word I'm looking for? Short shrift or a bad rep because we think well actions speak louder than words but friends there's power in words. I mean was it not these guys up here to hear high school students say I'm all in and I'm going for it and I'm going to follow him and I don't know where it's going to go but it wasn't that worth your price of admission this morning? I mean isn't that what you're taking home is just to hear those words being spoken there's power in words that's why we're inspired by famous speeches and and by quotes they're famous because they did something to us when we heard them you know Martin Luther King's sermon of I Have a Dream when you hear that it does something inside you right and and Kennedy's quote asked not what your country can do for you right? I mean when we hear those things we say it shakes us inside because there's power in words it's what we love movie quotes. If you've ever had a dinner around the table with high school kids it's just full of movie quotes and we always go all right real words real conversation enough with the movie quotes but part of that is because it has impact and it's powerful for them we've done a bunch of love movie quotes up here in at the beginning of some of our sermons because we love those things we you know the you complete me became famous because every person in the world wanted someone publicly to stand up and say you complete me you had me at hello come on it's the cheesiest thing in the world but we love it because there's something powerful about that reality those words that are spoken that's not my favorite quote in that movie that's the Jerry Maguire movie my favorite quote in that movie is Marcy Rod Tidwell's wife he's the football player where they got this lousy contract offered to them and Marcy said no we're rejecting that contract she goes she goes baby because this is you and me and we determine our worth and then she says this and you are a strong proud surviving splendid black man she's looking right at him and he's all crying he's all baby I said to my wife after that movie if you could call me a strong splendid black man I would love that those quotes are powerful to us those words have power the power of word and you know the reason why the reason why words have power is because that's a god thing that's why words have power because because it's a god thing when you go look you look at creation the beginning of our Bible says in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and the earth was formless and void and darkness filled it and the Holy Spirit hovered above the waters and then it says and God said let there be light and there was come on now and then it goes on and God said and God said and there was and God said and there was and there was and God said and there was is there not power in the word and then in the incarnation when it was revealed that God had come to earth in Jesus in John chapter one in the beginning was the word and the word became flesh and dwelt among us Jesus our Savior was called the word the the emanating of the personality of God the power of God the creativeness of God the power of word is a god thing friends and that word made its dwelling among us and then in the scriptures there's this god power word thing for the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double edged or two edged sword it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit joint and marrow it judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart the word of God has this power this breathed out word from God that is useful for correcting and training and teaching and righteousness so the person of God can be thoroughly equipped that comes from God's what God's word see word is a god thing that's why there's power in it and here's the dramatic and crazy reality friends that God power that breathed the world into existence when God said and it was that Jesus came the living word and dwelt among us and the word of God that changes our lives that God power is built into us that's dramatic as the image of God that has been given to us to have the power the potential for life and death in our words you with me you're tracking with me on this here's the power of God in word and then he gives it to us created in his image for creativity and expression and for love and it has the power of life and death look at some of these scriptures around that Proverbs 18 verse 21 the tongue has the power of life and death and those who love it will eat of its fruit it's right there it has the power of life and death others other place in Proverbs chapter 15 the tongue that brings healing is a tree of life but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit and then man in it it's New Testament but in a pretty dangerous and and and and heavy note James chapter 3 says likewise the tongue is a small part of the body but it makes great boasts consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark the tongue also is a fire a world of evil among the parts of the body it corrupts the whole body and sets the whole course of one's life on fire and is itself set on fire by hell oh my gosh everybody encouraged warm filled because there's the power of life and death in our tongue and James was just focusing on the negative side he's like there's death here friends you set the whole deal on fire and it's set on fire by hell itself that's how powerful our tongue can be this power of the word is given to us by God himself it's part of our expression as creatures in the image of God and we have the opportunity to bring life and death with our tongue wow with our words so if we're going to do a series on love and we talk about how to love we have to talk about how to love with words because we know that it's life or there can be death with our words and have you not experienced both in my preparation for this sermon I thought about the times I've experienced life and oh my gosh it's so great and I found myself that I've told many of you that story because I just want to encourage you to keep encouraging one another and I've told you these stories I just have tons of them I have tons of people my life who say things significant moments in my life there was a there was a moment when I was in my educational process and we had one of our african-american pastors in our denomination lean forward and say to me fresh air you're fresh air and God has raised you up for such a time as this I can remember his exact words to this day because they were life to me right you with me on this I mean I got a whole bunch of though I got a million of them because I surround myself with good people but then I thought about some of the examples of the way that I've experienced death through words and they were so painful and so part and core to my experience that I was embarrassed even sharing some of them with you like I couldn't even think of one that I wanted to share with you because they were so hurtful and hard and they were off some of them were even off-handed comments they're the kinds of things there's death in them because they're so they're just words but they have the power in them and the enemy can get a hold of some of those words and then replay them in our heads anybody come on church anybody know what I'm talking about there's life and there's death we're gonna love and we bring the life of God through our words that's the power of word so a few thoughts in just a few minutes that I have remaining on our service this morning a few thoughts on loving through the power of words some challenge maybe some encouragement number one tame the tongue tame the tongue this is the this is the number one message about our talking our speaking our words our use of words in the scriptures it's about being careful with how we speak tame the tongue get it under control be careful with it this is the message in scripture about words Ecclesiastes 5 2 says do not be quick with your mouth do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God God is in heaven and you are on earth read it with me so let your words be few I love that God's in heaven and you're on earth so time out he may have things figured out a little better than you and if he's in heaven then he is holy he is a holy God so you be very careful about how you use life and death power through your words isn't that a good passage? Proverbs 17 then this is just a little more light art of it isn't it true even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent and discerning if he holds his tongue I love that we kind of have more common phrase I think we have more contemporary phrase that says better to keep your mouth closed and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt yeah so it is sort of this there's this this common wisdom that goes listen just being quiet has all kinds of benefits just sort of shut up and you're probably get further along than if you talk all the time and then back on that passage in James 3 just the following verses after the verse I read all kinds of animals birds reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind but no human being can tame the tongue it's a restless evil full of deadly poison more encouragement from James the apostle it's very intense he goes you can't you you're really never going to get totally a hold of it this thing I mean we got all kinds of stuff under our control but the tongue is so crazy that you it and it's so poisonous you got to be careful so why is taming it so important and it's this we know this because you can't take back the power of what went out you can't take it back this is like every children's little lesson we've ever taught this is this is we all know this to be true we can never take back what goes out and so we have to start by saying all right I'm going to tame my tongue and maybe it won't go out in the first place I can't get those words back Brian Regan who does that well he said something at a party and he was like as it was coming out he was like oh darn it and those words have the power of life and they can have the power of death and death too high a price to pay when we're called to love the world and to love God and to love one another and so we tame the tongue where are you prone to speak too quickly to speak too quickly to not tame your tongue when when does that happen for you I mean just as a pragmatic reality we probably should look at our day in the arc of our lives and to say you know what in seasons like that in moments like that in situations like that with that person I just need to shut up I got tame the tongue that is the first and most significant advice the scriptures give us is tame the tongue get it under control don't be so quick to speak be slow to speak and quick to listen and then when we do speak to do so with intentionality and with love tame the tongue get it under our control get the reins of it and pull it back when it needs to be pulled back and not to let unnecessary words come out of our mouths when does that happen to you and then to release those reins and to steer and to be intentional when we do open our mouths that's part of taming our tongue you know I do a lot of running around meringue and all the different trails and all that kind of stuff and I see people out there with their dogs do you have a tame dog or you just think it's tame so there's two different kinds of people out there in the trails well there's three different kinds there's the people who obey the leash laws have their dog in a leash bless you then there's two to other kinds of people in the world and one of those people are people who believe that their dogs are trained that their dogs are under control and those are the dogs that bite me trip me run all over the place and they've come at you with their teeth gnarling their hair on the back and then I get this he's nice and I'm like yeah all the evidence is pointing that way but those people always crack me up because they just scream their dog's name at the top of their lungs and that's their effort to tame their dog of course they're carrying a leash strapped onto the side of them but the dog's not there we tame our tongue by putting the leash on it and then we let that leash out when it's safe and right and intentional and appropriate and we speak words of love that's what the scripture calls us to to tame our tongue second thing the power of under the power of word tune the tone tame the tongue tune the tone tone matters look at Ephesians 4 29 do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths everybody stops here everybody reads this verse and goes dang I got to stop swearing so much okay that's true art that's totally true you got to stop you got to clean up zan you got you got to clean up your language so but that's not what this passage is totally about I was about to make a joke and swear but I wouldn't I won't do that do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths keep reading but only what is helpful for building others up I mean look at how it builds on itself but but only but only let let out the the leash let let the rains out be intentional when it's helpful what does that mean building people up according to what they need not what you feel like you need or what you want to say or what it makes how good it makes you feel to let out steam whatever you look at those things helpful building others up according to their needs that they would benefit that it would benefit them saying be quiet until you can be helpful and strengthening and encouraging and building up and beneficial to everybody around you that's how you use your words and there's a tone thing in there the tone thing is about is this helpful for somebody is that what the tone is so many of us are so good at cynicism and sarcasm and deep and rich insight and commentary on all that goes on in the world well doesn't that make you smart that's what I feel like makes me so smart look at me I got it figured out I got that person figured out I got this situation figured out but you know what the scriptures say tame your tongue and then tune the tone only let come out what is helpful for building others up that it meets their needs and benefits them is that your tone here's the litmus test what do you think people say behind your back about how you come off about who you are what do people say in your home in your workplace on the ball field your kids ball field what do they say behind your back about the fragrance that you give off did they go my gosh I love being around mazzarello that guy is so sweet and so fun and so nice and so encouraging I feel like a million bucks when I'm with that guy he's awesome to have around or do they say that guy he's got to get a grip that guy doesn't feel safe to me who wants to be around that what do they say behind your back about the tone the fragrance that you give off when you leave the room do they go and it is always good to be in Al's presence it's always good I'm encouraged and strengthened and benefited that's the power of life that God gives us to speak that's living in the image of God that he spoke creatively and brought life out of nothing and then brought life out of death in the resurrection this is the power of God that he's given us in our mouths to speak what's your tone what do you leave what's the fragrance what's your reputation what's your legacy in your home that's challenging isn't that challenging do I need to move on go like this and I'll just go to the next point take the tongue tune the tone and third take advantage of technology take advantage of technology texting twittering facebooking uh instagraming give me another one LinkedIn okay all of these opportunities and even just having a cell phone at our disposal even the telephone itself you have the rotary in your house all of those things we kind of whine about those things because they fill our time and there's a lot of fluff and there's a lot of craziness and now there's ads on my facebook and there's a lot of junk that people put out there and there's a lot of craziness going on but friends you take advantage of your technology and speak life love the world you can love people with your technology how how great that when you're riding the bus to the city for work when somebody pops into mind you can thank god for Michael Hill and his gifts and his commitment to our body and and how he's helping us grow in the Lord and you can then send him an email and tell him so then he rolls out of bed all groggy-eyed and spiky here oh that's how he looks all the time and uh and he can look at it and go oh my gosh life we get the opportunity to do that what do you use all your technology for all your facebooking all your telephones you just telephone just sit quiet if you're not a whole facebook technology person does your phone just sit quiet i think maybe you ought to just think to yourself every day i'm gonna take advantage of technology and i'm gonna look for a way to use my words in it and love somebody i was just looking back in an old journal and i found that i had made a commitment as a sophomore in college that i would write a letter every day encouraging somebody in my life and it was a real letter and i was successful for that year now what could look what we can do stop wasting time with all that technology stop wasting time with all the possibilities you've seen enough videos of kitties walking on the on the piano keyboard get on there and speak life and love into your friends and into their world be careful about it you want to you want to know you want to know an acronym that might help you a way to remember it tlc what's it stand for i don't know tender loving care it's an r&b group i think tlc but think about this be thoughtful stop and think when you see somebody's posting on facebook i wonder where that's coming from i wonder how they're doing we think that through or if you're not a facebook person think about is you know the person you ran across that day in the store or in your brain and think what's god what's god telling me about them and and i wonder how they're doing with this situation be thoughtful about it i know i'm this is not you guys it's got to be all them young folk but when people just respond man they get into trouble more often than not hello can i get an amen pastor art be thoughtful t be thoughtful what do they need to hear today that would be loving that the power of my words can speak life into them be loving all right be thoughtful l be loving be loving in it think how how how does this meet their needs when i'm being not about myself i spent a lot of time in facebook trying to figure out how quaint i can be how smart i can be how funny i can be how i can outdo all the other people's comments by my obvious wit and intellect maybe i just ought to be the most loving on facebook what do they need to hear let me text that to them right now be thoughtful be loving and see be careful be slow don't click send don't respond in that email don't send that text until you've read it thought about it careful pray about it because you can't take it back we have been given the power of life and death in the image of god that's in us to love people so let's tame our tongue and tune our tone and take back technology here's a final word though you know that this really isn't the problem the solution is not really with our mouths you know that right the problem in the solution is not really with our mouths it's with our hearts right i mean we talk all the time about how to use your mouth how to use your mouth how to use your mouth the scriptures affirm this Jesus said this look at Matthew 12 make a tree good and what's going to happen fruit's going to be good make a tree bad the fruit will be bad for a tree is recognized by its fruit you brood of vipers i that's Jesus i'm not telling you that how can you who are evil say anything good for the mouth speaks what the heart is full of a good man brings good things out of the good stored in him man did he's less loved the beauty and the simplicity of that phrase a good person brings good things out of the good that's stored in them and an evil person brings evil things out of the evil stored in them it's as simple as that so we got to do the heart work and god's the one that does heart work and so as roman six says we come and we offer the parts of our bodies to him as instruments of righteousness as instruments of life as instruments of love so we offer our mouths our tongue our words but we also offer our hearts and we say god you're the one that transforms us by your spirit come change me that out of the good in me would come good words and good fruit and life and love let me be that instrument of righteousness for you