Seize the Moment – Day 525
The Power of Words!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, August 24.
Have you been in trouble because you made a promise you couldn’t keep?
Leviticus 5 discusses the guilt offering and gives practical examples of the kinds of sins that would require it to purify the person. Listen to a very relevant example found in verses 4-5:
Or if a person swears thoughtlessly with his lips to do evil or to do good, in whatever matter a man may speak thoughtlessly with an oath, and it is hidden from him, and then he comes to know it, he will be guilty in one of these. So it shall be when he becomes guilty in one of these, that he shall confess that in which he has sinned.
Thousands of years ago if you made an empty promise, regardless of your intent being good or evil, and it was brought to your attention, then a sin offering was required for your purification.
Perhaps the person simply did not realize the implications of their promise or maybe circumstances changed, and the person could no longer fulfill it. No matter because the law said that an unfulfilled oath caused a person to be guilty.
Words have power! Words flow from a person and carry the power to build up and to tear down, to bind together or to loosen apart. Therefore, we must be wise with how we use our words, especially when making commitments and promises to people and communities.
Proverbs 18:21 teaches, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” The Bible is filled with wisdom for our words, and we should listen and obey to God’s Word with how we use our words.