ON THE VANGUARD

SAY IT, DON'T SPRAY IT
"The tongue has the power of life an death, and those who love it eat its fruit."
Proverbs 18:21

Have you ever stopped to think about the power you possess? I am not saying you have magical powers and are the next unknowing wizard like Harry Potter. I am talking about the power that God gives us. I am talking about the power that is stronger than magic, able to give life and death, and houses both healing and poison. I'm talking about the tongue.
Proverbs 18:21 tells us that the power of life and death is in the tongue. James points out to us that this little body part is as directional as a bit in a horse's mouth, as purposeful as a rudder on a ship, and as untamed as animals (James 3:3-8). With it we praise God, but we also tear down the very ones made in God's image. We hold the power within us to bless or to curse.
We see this in Matthew 21, where Jesus was walking with His disciples and had grown hungry. In passing a fig tree He noticed that there was no fruit. Jesus then spoke to the tree and said, "May you never bear fruit again" (Mt 21:19). Matthew records that immediately the tree withered up and died. Was it because it was Jesus speaking? Could the same thing have happened if it were one of the disciples speaking? Or what if it were you and I speaking? The answer lies in verses 21-22 where Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." In this brief passage we see the power we possess.
I have seen this power in my own words and speech, in both positive and negative ways. While in my freshman year of college I fractured my femur. I wish I had some good story about bravery and how I saved someone in a burning building and broke my leg as the floor boards collapsed in the towering inferno. Unfortunately, my story is not that heroic. I fractured my femur while showing off dance moves. My legs twisted while trying to stick my landing on the dance floor and I came straight down on my knee,causing the jolt to crack the femur. In looking at the x-rays in the ER that night, I saw my bone was holding by a tread. The report came from the doctor that due to the way it cracked, I would need to have screws in my leg in order to walk again. Call me stupid or full of faith, but I opted for no such surgery, believing God would heal me.
I wrote verses on my crutches concerning healing, and daily confessed my healing. I spoke life into my leg. Going against the doctor's orders, after two weeks I put my crutches aside and began walking again. With each checkup, there seemed to be no change...until. The power of my words and my faith in Jesus came about as on my six week check up the doctor was stumped. In fact he was so stumped that he had to take additional x-rays. In comparing day one's x-ray showing an obvious crack to day 45's x-ray showing no trace of a crack, the doctor was perplexed. God had completely healed me with x-rays showing no trace of any fracture. The power of the tongue brought about the life needed in my leg.
But as I stated, I have seen this in both a positive and negative way. Growing up in our little subdivision, our neighbors across the street had a dog that liked to escape. In an effort to contain him, they put him on a leash in their backyard to prevent him from jumping the roughly six foot fence, as he was easily able to do. As dad was doing yard work on afternoon he looked over and saw the dog still trying to get over the fence. Even with the leash on, there was still just enough room for the dog's attempts. Dad's words concerning the situation were, "That dog is going to hang himself like that." Within only mere minutes the sound of yelping with heard as the dog sure enough had managed to thrust his body over the fence while still connected with the leash to the other side. I will never forget my dad explaining to us that night the power of our words and the first hand lesson we had witnessed.
We possess a powerful piece. We can fashion it into a weapon for death, or into a tool for blessing. I am not hear to throw guilt on you for the times you speak ill, but rather to remind you that we truly do hold within us a strong piece that we must grow more conscience of, and use cautiously. Even after seeing it work negatively in my own life, I still stumble and find myself spewing poison. But as neither you nor I are perfect, but can only make the choice to be more careful. Take your stand against the devil in promoting blessings on yourself and others. Make a choice to speak blessing, and join me ON THE VANGUARD!