TOXIC WORDS

One of God’s most beautiful gifts to mankind is speech. Speech distinguishes people from animals. Isn’t it a tragedy that mankind would take that beautiful gift of speech and misuse it by cursing, abusing and misusing the name of God Himself? Some will say, “Well, I just curse a little.” That is like saying, “I just kill a little.” or “I just commit adultery a little.” We are living in a filthy, vulgar, rotten-talking generation. To speak right, we must think right. Rejecting thoughts that oppose themselves to godliness will remove the temptation for ungodly speech.

We need to watch our thoughts for they become words. Our words become actions and our actions become habits. If we can’t say something nice about someone, don’t say anything at all. We should never define a person by their shortcomings; everybody has some assets. Even a broken clock is correct two times a day. Some people are so insecure that they can only feel good about themselves by tearing down others with their criticism. If we look for the best in people and not the worst, we will always find something good in everyone.

Words never die. The Bible is full of stories and instances of false accusations being made against godly people. False accusations can derail a career, disrupt unity and wreak havoc in a person’s life. We need to make sure that we have our facts straight before we accuse another person of anything. Once our words have been spoken we can never take them back. The words we speak and what we think about needs to meet God’s standards and should be acceptable to Him. There is no finer test of true Christianity than the ability to control our words. 

We take poison into our beings when we say or repeat unkind words about others. Speaking without thinking is tantamount to swallowing deadly poison. Now, poison will either kill us or make us deathly ill. We must always assume what we say will be quoted. It is offensive to God and should be to all of us when we worship and praise Him, sit under the teaching of His word, enjoy the fellowship of believers and then we threaten the unity of the Holy Spirit by our words that reveal bitter hearts.

Death and life are in the power of the words we speak. “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” (Proverbs 18:21) NIV If we use our words properly, there will be a tree of life. But if we use our words improperly, then the result is death. Whichever way we use out tongue we can be sure we will eat the fruit. If the words that come out of our mouths are evil, we know the heart is evil. We do not get bad fruit from a good tree, nor can we have good fruit from a bad tree.  The Bible is very clear. We must master our words. There are no blurred edges. “He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity.” (Proverbs 21:23) NIV Calamity is a strong word and the Bible uses it deliberately. Calamity means a disaster or dire distress.  King David wrote, “Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips. Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil.” (Psalm 141:3-4) NIV

TOXIC WORDS

Much can be said about a person’s character by the words they use. Robert Frost, the poet, once said, “Half the world is composed of people who have something to say and cannot and the other half who have nothing to say and keep on saying it.” Dynamite is stored and moved with great caution because of the knowledge we have of the power it possesses to destroy. Likewise, Christians have something as powerful as dynamite. Yet, very often it is handled as if there is no danger at all. It is the words that come out of our mouths. We need to examine the importance of controlling the words we speak

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What we put into our minds determines what comes out in our words and actions. Careless words reveal the true inner character of the speaker. Careless words show what sort of person we really are. Toxic thoughts left alone become the toxic waste that sinks into our heart. They will eventually contaminate our whole life. They affect our self-image and out attitude towards life and others. When something is “toxic” it is poisonous and it can harm us. When we constantly dwell on wrong thoughts, these thoughts become “toxic” and these “toxic” thoughts become “toxic words.”

Gossip is particular toxic. The toxic words of a gossiper are like a deadly cancer, which spreads a deadly infection. Gossip destroys people, tarnishes more reputations, breaks more friendships and splits more churches than anything else. Gossip is told quickly, heard quickly and spreads quickly. Worst of all gossip is quickly believed. People will confess to theft, adultery and even murder but hardly anyone confesses to gossip. It is wise to avoid people who gossip. Suppose we put one “rotten” apple in with a barrel of “good” apples? That one “rotten” apple will cause all the “good” apples to rot.

As the moral climate of our society has been deteriorating, lying and deceit have become major problems. God considered lying to be such a serious matter that He included the avoidance of it as one of the Ten Commandments. “Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor.” (Exodus 20:16) KJV Satan is the origin of every lie. Lying has a snow balling effect. Unless it is stopped, it becomes fatal. One lie leads to another and then another lie to try and cover up the previous lies. God warns us about lying. The Bible tells us that God has sealed the destiny of “liars.” “All liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with brimstone and fire.” (Revelation 21:8) KJV Notice that God uses the word “all.” If a person steals they can return the item. However, if a person spreads lies about someone the far reaching effects can never be undone.

A divisive person who speaks divisive words is a troublemaker. They sow discord, stirs up trouble within families, friends, on the job and especially in churches. Those who speak divisive words are usually jealous of another’s success and will say anything to try and discredit that person. When we encounter a person who speaks divisive words we need to identify them and use the Bible as our guide in dealing with them.  Apostle Paul didn’t mince words when he wrote about a divisive person. “Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that have nothing to do with him. You may be sure that such a man is warped and sinful. He is self-condemned.”  (Titus 3:10-11) NIV Our words and our actions are a reflection of our character and faith

 ANGELS

The study of angels is a fascinating subject. Everything God wants us to know about angels is found in the Bible. They are one-way messengers from God “to” us and they are “never” our messengers “to” God. No one in Scripture ever prayed to an angel and neither should we. They are not go-betweens or mediators between God and us. Jesus is the only one empowered for that role. “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ.” (1 Timothy 2:5) KJV

It is a breech of the first of the Ten Commandments to worship any manifestation of angelic presence.  “Thou shall have no other gods before me.” We are never to worship angels. Our worship belongs only to God. We should never confuse angels, whether visible or invisible with the Holy Spirit, the third person of the trinity. Angels do not indwell us.  Only the Holy Spirit seals us and indwells in us when He has regenerated us. The Holy Spirit is all knowing, all present and all-powerful. Angels are mightier than men, but they are not gods and they do not possess the attributes of the godhead.

Angels are not omnipotent. Omnipotent is having unlimited or universal, power, authority, or force. Scripture affirms that “all power” belongs to God. The earliest manifestation of God’s power is seen in the creation of the world in which we live. Jesus’ power was evident through the many miracles He performed. He had the power to raise Lazarus from the dead. There are many other verses in the Bible where God reveals this powerful aspect of His nature.

Angels are not omnipresence. Omnipresence means being present everywhere at once.  Only God is omnipresence. Even though angels are created beings they are limited by space. They cannot be present everywhere at once. An angel, object or person can only occupy one place at a time. King David tells us that he could not escape the presence of God. “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go to the heavens, you are there. If I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.” (Psalm 1:397-10) NIV

Angels are not omniscient. Omniscient means a state of being all knowing. The attributes of all-knowing and unlimited knowledge belong to God alone. “For God is greater than our hearts and He knows everything.” (1 John 3:20) NIV. Angels cannot read the mind of any human being nor do they know the day and hour when Jesus will return to earth. “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Mark 13:32) NIV

Angels can see and observe events on earth. They rejoice when one sinner repents. Jesus said,” In the same way, I tell you there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repents.”(Luke 15:10) NIV Isn’t it exciting to know that we have a heavenly host of angels watching and celebrating with us at the moment one sinner repents and receives the gift of salvation?