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While the number of words the average person speaks in a day can depend on age, culture and other factors, a University of Arizona study found that most people speak around 16,000 words in a day. This study found no significant difference between male and female subjects. If you lived to be 75, that would be around 4.3 million words in a lifetime. That represents over four million opportunities to build up, or to tear down. Four million chances to encourage, or to discourage. Four million chances to bless, or to curse.

We know that the old saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” is a lie! Proverbs 18:21(NCV) says, “What you say can mean life or death. Those who speak with care will be rewarded.” We live in a society that has produced a culture that encourages people to say whatever they feel to say, regardless of what it may do to someone else. “We have a right to be heard!” is the principle many live by with no regard for the consequences. We often speak out of a place of emotion and feeling, rather than placing control of our tongues under the control of the Holy Spirit, filtering our words through Him.

In the book of Jeremiah 17:9(NKJV) we read, “The heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” Then we find these words of Jesus in Luke 6:45(NIV) – “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” If I take a sponge and soak up orange juice, when I squeeze the sponge, milk doesn’t come out. Orange juice does. Whatever we soak up in our hearts and minds is what will come out of us when the pressure is on. 

How much are you on social media? Watching CNN, MSNBC, Fox? Have you surrounded yourself with godly people, or people who live contrary to the ways of God? Whatever you are absorbing will come out in your words! And YOUR MOUTH CAN BLOCK YOUR BLESSINGS!

In Numbers, the people have been led out of slavery by Moses. He is leading them to the Promised Land. But they grow impatient according to Numbers 21:4. And they allowed the enemy to hijack their tongues. How many of you have allowed the enemy to hijack your tongue in the midst of 2020’s craziness? Gotten caught up in the racial division, hate speech, anger, or caught up in the debates over COVID or in the political fray. 

Nicky Gumbel says, “The words of the tongue should have three gatekeepers: is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary?” In Numbers 21:7 we read, “Then the people came to Moses and cried out, ‘We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you.’”  Some of them repented. The very thing that got them into trouble was also the very thing that got them out of trouble! Life and death are in the power of the tongue! We will never have revival without repentance. Our tongues are meant to be a consecrated instrument in the hands of God that build others up, that glorify Him, that impart life, that write out words of life. In Psalm 45:1(NCV) David writes, “Beautiful words fill my mind. I am speaking of royal things. My tongue is like the pen of a skilled writer.” And then we find this declaration in Psalm 39:1(NLT) – “I said to myself, “I will watch what I do and not sin in what I say. I will hold my tongue when the ungodly are around me.”

Kent Hughes says “The true test of a man’s spirituality is not his ability to speak, as we are apt to think, but rather his ability to bridle his tongue.” Take a moment right now and consecrate your tongue to the Lord. Ask Him to cause your tongue to be an instrument in His hands that is used for building others up, that encourages, that brings healing and hope, and that writes His heart to mankind.

We hope this seven-day plan has encouraged you. You can find more helpful resources at:

www.TheRefuge.net or www.WeldedBook.com