The Power of Our Words

The apostle James gave a stirring lecture regarding the power of our words. He bluntly accused the tongue as “an unruly evil full of deadly poison”, but he also offered the secret formula to become the “perfect man” [or woman].

“If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.” – see James 3: 2-10

Wow, Imagine that! If we desire to be perfect, all we have to do is simply never offend anyone with our words, and then everything else will fall perfectly into place, too! Hmmmm… sound too simple, or just too good to be true? It seems James knew that if we can tame our tongue, we can tame anything else – because after taming a tongue, anything else will obviously feel like a walk in the park! 😉

How often it is the smallest things in life that have the greatest power. In this case, it is our little tongue, and all those pesky “little words” that come tripping out of it, that can make or break us.

In his April 2007 General Conference address, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland expanded on the importance of “bridling our tongues”, by teaching us what it means to speak with The Tongue of Angels. It is a wonderful talk filled with very powerful words that inspired some very big ideas in my mind! I encourage you to read it.

In conclusion of his masterful lecture, Elder Holland stated:

“…Faith, Hope and Charity, the three great Christian imperatives so desperately needed in the world today. With such words, spoken under the influence of the Spirit, tears can be dried, hearts can be healed, lives can be elevated, hope can return, confidence can prevail.

I pray that my words, even on this challenging subject, will be encouraging to you, not discouraging, that you can hear in my voice that I love you, because I do.

More importantly, please know that your Father in Heaven loves you and so does His Only Begotten Son. When They speak to you—and They will—it will not be in the wind, nor in the earthquake, nor in the fire, but it will be with a voice still and small, a voice tender and kind.  It will be with the tongue of angels.May we all rejoice in the thought that when we say edifying, encouraging things unto the least of these, our brethren and sisters and little ones, we say it unto God.

– Jeffrey R. Holland, The Tongue of Angels, April 2007

FAITH HOPE, CHARITY & 47 MORE!

To help us “train our dragons” [i.e. tongues] and to tame them into angelic messengers, here is a lovely video that presents 50 Words That Will Lift, Motivate & Inspire You! Committing these 50 words to memory might just be the perfect place for us to start with our “training exercises”. – MoSop