“Taming the tongue, directing your actions”

Text: James 3:3-12
​
Sermon:

• In this passage, we see the importance of the words that we use. James paints a picture of how our words motivate our actions. He does this through a variety of images, such as fire, the rudder of a boat, and even some animals.
• While I believe that that this is another scripture where it can be used to misinform congregations, the Biblical truth is still valid. Our thoughts and our words create our actions.
• In truth, our intention in what we say is more important than the words that we say. If we use negative words consistently, we are destroying the confidence of the ones that we are speaking to. Which means we are effectively destroying the relationship.
• This is highly evident in the raising of children. In their neuroscience experiment, “Do Words Hurt?”, Maria Richter and collaborating scientists monitored subjects’ brain responses to auditory and imagined negative words. To be frank, their study proved that negative words release stress and anxiety-inducing hormones in subjects. Additionally, a study found increased levels of anxiety in children associated with higher rates of negative self-talk.
• This also impacts adults as well, in their jointly written book, Words Can Change Your Brain, Dr. Andrew Newberg, a neuroscientist at Thomas Jefferson University, and Mark Robert Waldman, a communications expert state, “a single word has the power to influence the expression of genes that regulate physical and emotional stress.”
• “By holding a positive and optimistic [word] in your mind, you stimulate frontal lobe activity. This area includes specific language centers that connect directly to the motor cortex responsible for moving you into action. And as our research has shown, the longer you concentrate on positive words, the more you begin to affect other areas of the brain.”- Newburg, Waldman.
• Negative, angry and critical words cause emotional and physical damage, not only to the listener, but to the speaker. A single negative word, whether spoken to a stranger, a friend or a family member, can leave a lasting impression that might never be erased. Negative words create negative attitudes, destroy relationships and block communication. For children, the effects are more serious. Studies have found that connections between the left and right sides of the brain are underdeveloped in adults who were verbally abused as children by their parents or by peers.
• Our thoughts become our words, and therefore our language.
• Those who frequently engage in negative self-talk tend to be more stressed. Negative self-talk can lead to a lowered ability to see opportunities and a decreased tendency to capitalize on these opportunities.
• Thinking and speaking negative thoughts over and over can permanently damage parts of your brain that regulate your memory, emotions, appetite, and sleep patterns. Feelings of anxiety and sadness increase, and the ability to experience long-term satisfaction decreases. Unfortunately, thinking and saying positive words does not have the same dramatic effect on your brain. You need to speak a positive word multiple times to counteract the effect on your brain of one negative word.
• When we adjust our self-talk and the way that we speak to our friends, family and community members, we are growing into a community that expresses love and compassion for the community around us.

 

• Let us be people who love to speak truth in love.

 
Resources:

• https://www.verywellmind.com/negative-self-talk-and-how-it-affects-us-4161304
•  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8295361/
• https://brm.institute/neuroscience-behind-words/
• https://tinyurl.com/bpd33d4r
• https://tinyurl.com/mr43ndts
• https://tinyurl.com/2hwe97yx
• https://tinyurl.com/42568vxx