The Power of the Tongue Part 3
“Listen to and pay careful attention when a successful person is talking; then listen to those who are struggling in every aspect of their lives and you will hear a marked difference. The successful person knows the power, which lies in what they say and how they say it, while the unsuccessful person does not…” — Rick Cox
Part 3
Seeing as how most of us do not give the words coming out of our mouth any credence, this begs the question, why should others? It should be quite obvious we do not give credence for if we did we would not be conversing nor using the words in the manner we choose to use them. Many of us talk just to hear ourselves talk and thus the talk is idle and frivolous. If we were to give thought to what we are saying we would not choose many of the words we use. What I am saying is we would not speak lightly or flippantly, but would choose our words carefully. Solomon said, “In a multitude of words transgression is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is prudent.”
Too often we speak without thinking. The result of speaking without thinking is those around us do not place any weight on what we say. This is called writing checks with your mouth, but having nothing in the bank with which to cash what has been said. Solomon called this, “Having the mouth of the foolish.” He said it would cause you to be snared as well as bring about ruin, damage, and devastation. He further said a man of understanding keeps silent, but one given to idle talk will find his idle talk leading only to poverty.
My father in law was a man of few words. He seldom spoke, but when he did there was something behind what he said. Working for him gave me firsthand knowledge of his mannerisms as well as his abilities. It was my opinion he was not as smart as myself in many business matters. I was so arrogant I even told him so, how foolish. The difference between he and I was I talked about how smart I was, he did not. One day while speaking to a client I was stunned when this client said he saw my father in law as a wise and smart man and a man of few words. You could have knocked me over with a feather. I learned a big lesson that day, which was to keep my mouth shut. I had hoped in doing so someone might think I had a clue, even to the point of being wise and smart. Solomon said, “A man of understanding keeps silent.” A man of understanding doesn’t need to talk just to hear himself, talk.
I would venture to guess you have met or have in your family one who is a hypochondriac. Everything they say is negative concerning their health. Eventually they talk themselves into whatever it is they have confessed. Oh, I didn’t want that they might try and say, but I just knew it was going to happen. Truth is if they didn’t want it they wouldn’t give root to the thought by speaking it into reality over and over in their lives.
What we say is important. Solomon said, “The tongue of the wise brings healing.” He also said, “He who guards his mouth keeps his life for the lips of the wise will preserve them.” With that in mind instead of saying, “I am scared to death;” begin saying, “I was startled to life.” Instead of saying, “I am starved to death;” say, “I need to eat for my health.” Instead of saying, “This flu will be the death of me;” say, “My body has the power to overcome this illness.” When you first start doing this I promise you it will sound and feel weird and awkward. As you continue to do so however, you will find it getting easier and easier. Soon, it will feel weird when you hear others speaking the negative way you use to speak.
Your speech is so important Solomon said it could increase THE LEARNING ABILITY OF THE LISTENER AND THE SPEAKER. Of course it can help the listener as that is how we learn from those around us as we grow up – we listen. Those who don’t listen will not be as wise. They will however, be those who write checks with their mouths, which cannot be cashed. Along with helping the listener this also says it will help the speaker. As we prepare what to say and how to say it, we become smarter and wiser. It would seem then our speech and or confession of what we want in life could in fact become reality if we guard our mouth and say only what it is we want to become a reality.
When you talk, do your words carry weight? Were your words chosen carefully? Does your speech bring forth fruit for harvest or devastation? Solomon said a good person will eat well from the fruit of their mouth. If you are not eating well, then I suggest you do a ‘grammar check’ on what you are saying and how it is being said. I suggest you choose your words wisely and speak them with passion, but not in anger. Finally, I suggest you analyze the results of what you are saying and how you are saying it to determine if what is said is going to bring about failure or success.
Best of LUCK as you
Labor Under Correct Knowledge…
Respectfully,
Rick Cox