When What We Say About People Sounds Like The Devil Talking
Certain sounds are easily identifiable. Think old Volkswagens. Or Harley Davidson motorcycles.
Sometimes, you can even tell where a person is from by the words they use or how they say them.
You’ve probably already taken the “How Y’all, Youse and You Guys Talk” language test, right? I felt pretty good about my results… I’m either from Seattle, Spokane, or Grand Rapids.
Those little indicators, words like soda or pop or coke, reveal where we’re from.
What we say and how we say it has a particular, distinct sound.
And while it can be fun to take a test identifying whether we’re from the South, the Northeast or the Midwest, there is another pattern of sound we should be careful to discern…
Are we sounding like Heaven or Hell?
Think about it. Sometimes what we say about people sounds like the devil talking.
When Jesus was baptized in Matthew chapter 3, God’s voice from Heaven could be heard saying, “My Son! I’m so proud. You bring me such joy.”
A few verses later in chapter 4, Jesus goes into the wilderness, while fasting and praying, to be tempted by the devil. Repeatedly, the devil calls into question the value, worth, significance, calling, and validity of Jesus by saying, “If you are the Son of God, prove it…”
You can see a clear distinction between what God had to say and what the devil had to say about Jesus.
God sounds like this: “You’re my child—I love you, am proud of you, and you bring me joy.”
Satan sounds like this: “Who do you think you are? Oh really! Prove it then.”
One voice builds, the other destroys.
One blesses, the other belittles.
One sounds like Heaven, the other sounds like Hell.
I don’t know about you, but I want to sound more like what Heaven has to say when I’m talking about others…
Because when what we say about people sounds like the devil talking, it gives clues as to where we’re really from.
Think about it.
I am a husband, father, pastor, leader & reader. I love God, love people & love life.
Your so right on Brian keep it up, blessing to you and your family!!
Thank you for being a public figure who is saying this. It means a lot for someone with bigger influence to get people thinking. I’ve had this problem in my own life not only from me saying things that hurt people (I’m trying my best to grow past that) but also with people I care about who sometimes do this. When someone decides to call me a girl or a woman when they know how badly that hurts me. (it’s not that I would be ashamed of being female, it’s that my brain is confused and it’s the same as saying “grow some balls” to any man) Instead of calling me whatever they want recklessly I would rather they asked me if there was something that we could both agree on that made everyone more comfortable. I would rather have someone call me “kid” over “she” on any day of my life. When a person says something that they know hurts another person but they say it anyway, it shows a lot about who they are and what they believe. Do they care more about their opinion and trying to force other to change? Or about Loving and understanding people? I was born a baby not a nut sack. I am myself not my past. I was born a human not a sin. I am loved not a toy.
As for the demographic language test, it’s a toss between Tacoma and Salt Lake city with a dash of Chicago. Tacoma because my grandparents live there, Salt Lake city because of my uncle, and Chicago because of my friends Stace and Jer. About 1/4 of my life was in Tacoma growing up so they hit the nail on the head!
Wonderful post! The words we speak are powerful. They can tear down or build up. I believe it was Paul who talked about how the tongue can be a sharp edged sword. I would rather say nothing than hurt someone intentionally by anything I may say.