[:en]Nelson Mandela who opposed the South African apartheid regime was imprisoned for almost 3 decades. But he never used words lightly because he knew real speech can impact on the way people live and die.
King Solomon wrote about the power of words. “The tongue has the power of life and death” (Prov. 18:21). It has the potential to produce positive or negative consequences (v. 20). And the only way to produce good words is to guard our hearts. Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Prov. 4:23)
James also talked about “taming our tongue”. “Tongue is a small part of the body but it makes great boasts. The tongue is like a fire. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. (James 3:3). We use our tongue to praise God and curse men.
Let Jesus transform your heart so that you can speak words that can encourage, edify, comfort and benefit others.[:]