The Power of the Tongue

QUOTES FOR REFLECTION

“All I need is a sheet of paper and something to write with, and then I can turn the world upside down.”

~Friedrich Nietzsche

“Words are not in the power of men; men are in the power of words.”

~Hermann Bahr

“I consider looseness with words no less of a defect than looseness of the bowels.”

~John Calvin

“Even though our tongue cannot be tamed by human nature, it can be tamed by the Holy Spirit.”

~Jackie Hill Perry

“A little criticism makes me angry, and a little rejection makes me depressed. A little praise raises my spirits, and a little success excites me. It takes very little to raise me up or thrust me down. Often I am like a small boat on the ocean, completely at the mercy of its waves. All the time and energy I spend in keeping some kind of balance and preventing myself from being tipped over and drowning shows my life is mostly a struggle for survival: not a holy struggle, but an anxious struggle resulting from the mistaken idea that it is the world that defines me.”

~Henri Nouwen

“That non-bony, flappable instrument between our bicuspids can be an instrument of tremendous good or cataclysmic destruction. It can be used to build people up in the faith or to destroy their hard-earned reputations. It can help bring about peace among nations or can start a war.”

~Curtis Thomas

SERMON PASSAGE

Proverbs 13:3, 15:1-2, 4, 18:20-21, 21:23-24, James 1:26 (ESV)

Proverbs 13

3 Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life;

  he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.

Proverbs 15

1 A soft answer turns away wrath,

  but a harsh word stirs up anger.

2 The tongue of the wise commends knowledge,

  but the mouths of fools pour out folly….

4 A gentle tongue is a tree of life,

  but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.

Proverbs 18

20 From the fruit of a man’s mouth

  his stomach is satisfied;

  he is satisfied by the yield of his lips.

21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue,

   and those who love it will eat its fruits.

Proverbs 21

23 Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue

   keeps himself out of trouble.

24 “Scoffer” is the name of the arrogant, haughty man

   who acts with arrogant pride.

James 1

26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.