Words Really Do Matter

How we use our words is part of how we love our neighbor.

In Matthew 12:36, Jesus said something that may take some of us by surprise.  He said, “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

When we face God on the day of judgment, will we really have to give account for every careless word that we have spoken?  Does God care about every careless word that we have spoken?  Even those words that we have said without giving any thought to what we were saying?  Are such words so important to God that He is going to pronounce His judgment upon us because of them?  This does seem to be what Jesus is saying, and He should know since He is going to be the one sitting on the throne of God as our Judge according to John 5:22. 

One reason for this kind of judgment may be that our words reveal and express what is in our hearts, for Jesus also said in Matthew 15:18, “But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.”  It just may be the case that the things we say carelessly and thoughtlessly are the most accurate indicators of what is true of our hearts.

But there may be another reason for this kind of judgment. Words can have great power.  The first commandment tells us to love God with all our heart, and the second is like it: we are to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:38).  Words can express and promote love among people, and words can express and promote hate. The words we use do matter.

At times, we may remind someone to be polite by telling them to be civil. Civil comes from a Latin word for citizen or a member of a community.  It is generally recognized that to maintain the ties that bind a community together, we need to speak to one another with mutual respect or with civility. For the sake of our society’s health, surely we need civil language in the governance and politics of our nation, because once again the words we use really do matter.  

Not surprisingly, the Bible teaches us what words we are to use as we approach God.  Those who seek God are to praise Him (Psalm 22:26). Those who pray to God are to thank Him (Philippians 4:6).  We who come to God are to express that we love Him by praising and thanking Him.  

God’s own words are important to Him. 

According to Psalm 138:2, there are two things that God has exalted above all else, and they are His name and His word.  God has chosen to use words to convey to us the greatest power in the universe, the power that saves our souls and bodies from eternal death and gives us life with Him forever.  The greatest power in the universe is contained in words that convey the message of the gospel, the message about Christ and His work of salvation.  When we believe God’s word to us about His Son, we are saved (Romans 1:16).

God communicates His love in the words of the gospel.  God is loving us by means of the gospel.

Words really do matter. When we use them, we should use them to love one another.

Dave Durant is the Operations Director for Ministry To State.