Never take lightly the Power of Your Words

Genesis 9:18-29

In an earlier paper we discussed the importance of a father’s blessing but what about a father’s curse?  In the verses above, we have an account of Noah getting wasted on wine, and while he was passed-out, his son Ham did something to his father and told his two brothers.  When Noah awoke he put a curse on Ham the father of Canaan, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.”

You may be saying so what, it is just words, and sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.  That was a saying we used often as kids, when someone caused us pain by telling us we had big ears, that we were ugly, or that we needed shoes to play on the tennis team when we had no money to buy shoes; yes words hurt, and they have the power to destroy.  Many dads have destroyed their children by words like you are dumb, ugly, or you have no future.  In James 3:8-10, “but no human being can tame the tongue.  It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.  With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.  From the same mouth come blessings and cursing.  My brothers, these things ought not to be so.”

When God called a man named Abram to leave his country, his people and his father’s household and go to the land that God would show him, God also told him the following, in Genesis 12:2,3.  “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”  God later changed his name from Abram to Abraham.  For those of you who believe your best years are behind you, Abram was seventy-five years old when he heard God and obeyed what God told him to do.

As both parents and grandparents, we should never take lightly the power of our words, to bless or destroy those we love.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice