Do your words build up or tear down? Too many times we fail to give this question any consideration. We need to realize how much our words matter. Words can have a devastating effect on people. In extreme cases, verbal abuse has led to suicide, especially among students who are bullied at school. Marriages have been ruined and homes have been destroyed by tongues that are uncontrolled. James warned us about the destructive nature of the careless tongue.

James 3:6 (ESV)
⁶ And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.

Wow! The tongue, James said, has the destructive power to set on fire the entire course of one’s life. No wonder David said, “Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile” (Psalms 34:13). One of the dangers of the tongue is that it can, like a forest fire, be set unintentionally. Thousands of acres of land have been destroyed, not by arson, but by accident. Such is the case with the tongue as well. It has ruined many lives without the one setting the blaze even knowing it.

While the tongue can be devastating, it can also be used in such a way that is extremely beneficial to others. Paul, in the book of Ephesians, writes:

Ephesians 4:29 (KJV)
²⁹ Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

“Good to the use of edifying.” Edification should be our goal whenever we speak to others. To edify means to build up. That is what we should strive to be about as Christians. No, our speech cannot always be uplifting. It would be a bit much to think that every word we utter is going to build someone up. However, we should encourage others to the point where it does not come as a surprise when we do so. Speaking comforting words should be something that others expect from us.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 (KJV)
¹¹ Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

Even though the saints at Thessalonica were already in the habit of encouraging each other, Paul exhorted them to do it even more. That shows that we can never engage in this good practice too much, unless, of course, we are not sincere when we are doing it. If our hearts are in the right place, and we are truly trying to build a person up by our encouraging words, it is always a good practice, and one which we should strive to do more often. In another place, Paul simply said, “Let all things be done unto edifying.” He was talking about our assemblings when he wrote this, but the principle would be applicable to our speech as well.

We should all strive to be like Barnabas. His real name was Joses. Barnabas was simply the nickname that was given to him because it meant “Son of Encouragement,” and that was what he was. Let us use our tongues in such a way that we have the reputation of building others up by our speech.

As you wind down for the night, think on these things.