Monday, August 15, 2005
The Power of the Tongue
Proverbs 15:1-5
8/14/05 D. Marion Clark
Introduction
Did you know that in this sanctuary sit men and women of great power? For example, today they will exercise such power as to make others who are also here very happy or miserable. They will impact the lives of strangers. So powerful are they, that much of their influence will be unnoticed even by them. In the same way that we may walk along a field of grass, unaware that our mere taking a step shakes the world of insects, so these people go through a day unaware of shaking up the world that they touch.
Who are these giants of power? They are you and I. For whoever possesses a tongue possesses great power. Our proverbs here give us insight into this powerful instrument.
Text
A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
The gentle word possesses positive power to defuse anger; the harsh word possesses negative power to stir up anger where there was none. Note first of all the power of the tongue. It can be a powerful agent for peace or for trouble. The soft, gentle answer can turn away, not merely anger that is brewing, but the wrath that is unleashed. Though disguised as mild-mannered Clark Kent, it really is more powerful than a locomotive! Conversely, a single word has the power to stir up anger that lay dormant. It can stir up anger in someone, who moments before was completely happy and contented. It can transform a peaceful scene into a storm of angry emotion.
Note, also, where the power lies: it is not only in what the tongue says, but in how it speaks. Consider these scenarios: The telephone bill arrives. Mary opens it and discovers to her horror that it is $500. She runs to her husband shouting, “I can’t believe this! How will we ever be able to pay this bill? Who’s been talking on the phone so much? It must be our son!” Her husband John replies gently, “It’s okay, dear. I’ll take care of it. It must be a mistake.” Mary relaxes, so pleased to have a calm, wise husband. What could have been a storm in the home turns serene.
Second scenario: The telephone bill arrives. Mary opens it and discovers a $500 bill. “That’s curious,” she says to her husband. “What do you make of it?” John snaps back, “It’s okay, dear! I’ll take care of it! It must be a mistake!” Mary tenses up, sensing the impatience of her husband with her. Why is he lashing out at her? And so a storm brews in what had been a pleasant day at home.
This is the power of your tongue. You have the power to stop the locomotion of anger with a soft response that brings it to a halt. Your kind word, your pleasant voice can unarm the angry word and voice, and set a peaceful tone for your home, your workplace, your classroom, even on the bus and in the elevator. Many a stormy face has been transformed to a bright smile by the mere pleasant remark.
2 The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly.
The word “fool” is not a barb intended as an insult. It is the description of a mindset. None of us want to be regarded as fools, but we must be willing to consider how what is said of the fool applies to us. We need to do the hard work of examining ourselves.
The tongue of the wise commends knowledge. The NKJ reads “uses knowledge rightly.” The wise know how to make knowledge beneficial and pleasing. The fool may have the same knowledge, but because of his ego or self-interest he turns people away from the knowledge. We all can think of people whom we regard as interesting to listen to, and those whom we avoid because of the pompous way in which they talk or their boring manner or simply the foolishness of what they say.
A problem with foolish speech is that the speaker is oblivious to being foolish. He thinks he is being wise. He makes his mistake in believing that speech itself is what impresses people. He goes to a party and sees how people gather around a good story teller; he thinks that to get that kind of attention he needs to tell stories. He sees a lawyer giving legal advice, perhaps a doctor discussing the latest news about cloning, or an avid gardener describing her new backyard project; he then throws in his knowledge so people will think highly of him as well, not realizing how foolish he sounds.
We certainly don’t want to be fools who pour out folly. How do we avoid that? Here are some tips about the wise. First, the wise become so because they are foremost lovers and learners of knowledge. The wise lawyer is fascinated with law; the wise car mechanic is intrigued with the functions of an engine. Thus, when they speak, their fascination infects their hearers. Secondly, the wise are attentive to their hearers. They look at the signs that indicate if the hearers are interested or not. Because they are enthused with their subject, they want others to be as well and so they keep tune to their audience.
Here where you’ve got to make sure you get the point. The above two observations are a way of saying that the wise are humble. They are fascinated with what they learn, not with being learned. Do you get the difference? If you study the Bible so that you can be thought knowledgeable by others and yourself, you will not be wise with your knowledge. But if you study the Bible because you are fascinated with God, you will become wise indeed. Humility, which in this case simply means being focused on truth rather than yourself, makes you wise. Arrogance, which keeps your attention on yourself, dumbs you down so much so that you fail to see your foolishness in the eyes of others.
3 The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.
God really does see us when we are sleeping and when we are awake. He actually does know when we’ve been bad or good. Let’s apply this knowledge about God to the subject of the tongue. Jesus said, “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:36-37). All those careless words we forgot, God remembers. That’s enough to make us squirm.
“I didn’t mean to sound angry.”
“I didn’t mean for you to take it that way.”
“I didn’t realize what I was saying.”
“I was tired at the time.”
“I was angry about something else.”
All those rationalizations sound hollow, don’t they, when we envision God playing back the recordings? It is hard to depict God as saying, “That’s okay that you crushed your brother’s spirit. You didn’t really mean to.” “That’s all right the time you wrecked the peace of your household because you were in a bad mood.”
But also think about this. That little kind remark you made to a child today – God heard you. When you encouraged a parent with a restless child, instead of rebuking her – God heard that. When you said “thank you” to the harried waiter and to the tired bus driver, God was listening. When you patiently listened to someone’s worries and prayed with him, God took notice.
For the eyes and the ears of the Lord are in every place. The soft answer is not too soft for him to miss. There is no exchange of words that are too trivial, for no one is trivial to God.
4 A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.
The King James calls it the “wholesome tongue”; the NIV refers to the “tongue that brings healing.” The gentle tongue is wholesome and brings healing. It is the speech of a mother soothing her child who just skinned her elbow and of a father comforting his child whose team loss the big match. It is the college student helping her roommate laugh after a breakup. It is the good word spoken in a meeting where tempers are starting to flare that calms everyone down or even makes them laugh. It is the word that builds up a deflated spirit. It is a word of great power, because it gives life; it rebuilds, gives a new start, gives hope, makes others want to live again.
But there is also a tongue that does just the opposite – the perverse tongue. The specific word indicates not merely an untruth, but an intent to bring hurt. It is what kids say to one another, like “Your parents aren’t your real parents; they took you because nobody else wanted you.” It is the gossip we pass on, the innuendos we slip out about a person’s character. It the exaggerations we make when we are upset, the comments like, “You can’t get anything right.”
What is really being addressed is intent. The person who desires to encourage others will speak healing words. The person who desires merely to assert himself, to get his frustration “off his chest,” will speak words that crush.
I didn’t care for the ESV’s use of the word “perverseness” for the Greek term because of the connotations that word has today; and yet, it does bring out the force intended here. To twist words so that what ought to be bringing blessing and healing; to take an opportunity that could be a “tree of life” for someone’s spirit, and, instead, turn it into a moment to break his spirit – that truly is perversion.
Now, fathers, I have saved the best for last! 5 A fool despises his father’s instruction, but whoever heeds reproof is prudent.
Let’s bathe in this instruction for a moment. Hear, O sons, a father’s instruction, and be attentive that you may gain insight (4:1). A wise son hears his father’s instruction (13:1). Ah yes! If only our children were so wise to appreciate our great wisdom. Well, back to understanding the text.
Certainly this does speak to children about the importance of learning from their fathers and mothers, but the principle applies to many other situations. “Instruction” could also be translated “discipline,” and they really go hand in hand. There is a sense in which you are being disciplined by me right now as I give instruction from God’s word. The principle is this: those who do well in life are those who learned to benefit from teaching and correction. Indeed, it is a mark of wisdom to appreciate correction.
Correction, however, is difficult to take. Most of us do not like to be corrected; we certainly don’t like to be disciplined. One reason is that oftentimes the one doing the correcting is not doing so with a “wholesome” tongue. Far from a gentle tongue, we are being corrected with a harsh tongue, and it stirs up our anger. It makes us defensive. Even then, however, the wise learn how to benefit. The wise will examine themselves regardless of who is correcting and the manner of the correcting.
Why? Because the wise want to improve themselves. And they recognize that every experience is a learning experience. The fool does not benefit, because his concern is his appearance. He wants to be thought important or cool. The irony, of course, is that he appears foolish to everyone else, while the wise only appear wiser. The more teachable we appear, the wiser we appear; the more willing to accept correction, the more respect we gain.
Conclusion
Now, let’s put these proverbs together and see what we learn. First of all, there is great power in what we say. All of us – whether we have lots of authority or are on the bottom of the totem pole – have power to heal or to wound, to build up or to tear down. By one remark, we can make a total stranger’s day or ruin it. By our tongue, we can be a joy to live and work with, or we can make it a nightmare for them. Today, when this service is over and you are leaving, you will either cheer others or dampen their spirits. You might do both: speak gently to one person and harshly to another. The tongue never speaks without helping or hurting.
The question before you, of course, is how you will use your tongue. When the benediction is given, what will be your first words? To whom will you speak? Will you speak words that will bless others? When the telephone rings tomorrow, will the response you give to the person on the other end be a tree of life? When you are spoken rudely to, when someone speaks to you in anger, will you turn that anger away with soft words?
When we look at speaking this way, it becomes unnerving. Every time we open our mouths, we open ourselves for judgment before the God who sees and hears everything. Go back to Jesus’ remark that we will have to give account for every careless remark. Our problem is that so many of our remarks are just that – careless. We do not give careful thought to what we say. Like the leg that kicks when tapped below the knee, so the tongue kicks in reflex to the taps it receives.
What are we to do? We can learn to better discipline our tongue so as to avoid stirring pots of trouble. There are tips one can learn to exercise control and to speak effectively, and we would be wise to study such things.
But Jesus presented the real issue. His warning we quoted concluded with this remark: "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil” (Matthew 12:33-35). To put it in the context of our proverbs, the good tongue comes from a good heart and a bad tongue from a bad heart. If you want to speak words of healing, then the real work needs to be done in the heart.
The other day I listened to a father tell a story about his son. The son determined that he would swim a distance that the father counseled was too far. Time went by and the son did not return. The father got in a boat to look for him and found him sitting on a dock exhausted and unable to swim back. The father then considered pleasantly with his son that probably the large meal he had had is what prevented him from being able to complete the distance. He upheld his son’s dignity. He spoke gentle words healing to the boy’s spirit.
Most of us fathers know what could have easily been said: How the father could have been angered that his counsel was not taken, that the son had caused worry for him, that he had to take the time to find him. The father could have ridiculed the son for failing. Knowing such things, I responded, “You are a good father.” Here is the enlightening part. He responded with surprise. In his mind, he was not telling a story about how he had done something right, but merely a pleasurable time with his son. He had not weighed in his mind what he should say to his son; he was not controlling his tongue; his tongue simply carried out what a loving father would say.
If you want to avoid sinning with your tongue; if you want to fulfill what God requires of you with your tongue, then, again, heed Jesus’ words: love God and love your neighbor. Love gives you wisdom; love will even do your thinking for you so that the “careless” words become “caring” words.
But loving is so hard to do! Well, here is a tip: the more you grasp the love of God for you; the more you contemplate his love, the more loving you will become and the more often your tongue will become as a tree of life to others. How do you grasp God’s love? You listen to what he has spoken. Here is one example.
For the mountains may depart
and the hills be removed,
but my steadfast love shall not depart from you,
and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,”
says the LORD, who has compassion on you (Isaiah 54:10)
Listen to the Scripture that God has spoken that you may know his love.
Remember one thing more. I said at the beginning that men and women of great power sit in this sanctuary. Be sure to know that there is One in here of infinitely greater power. His Word – Jesus the Son of God – did turn away the wrath that should have fallen upon us. His Word who came to us gentle and in meekness truly is the Tree of Life. And this Word came to us from a heart of love.
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:9-10).
May we be filled with such love that our tongues, that our whole beings, glorify the God of love and draw others to the Tree of Life. Such love is power indeed.
8/14/05 D. Marion Clark
Introduction
Did you know that in this sanctuary sit men and women of great power? For example, today they will exercise such power as to make others who are also here very happy or miserable. They will impact the lives of strangers. So powerful are they, that much of their influence will be unnoticed even by them. In the same way that we may walk along a field of grass, unaware that our mere taking a step shakes the world of insects, so these people go through a day unaware of shaking up the world that they touch.
Who are these giants of power? They are you and I. For whoever possesses a tongue possesses great power. Our proverbs here give us insight into this powerful instrument.
Text
A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
The gentle word possesses positive power to defuse anger; the harsh word possesses negative power to stir up anger where there was none. Note first of all the power of the tongue. It can be a powerful agent for peace or for trouble. The soft, gentle answer can turn away, not merely anger that is brewing, but the wrath that is unleashed. Though disguised as mild-mannered Clark Kent, it really is more powerful than a locomotive! Conversely, a single word has the power to stir up anger that lay dormant. It can stir up anger in someone, who moments before was completely happy and contented. It can transform a peaceful scene into a storm of angry emotion.
Note, also, where the power lies: it is not only in what the tongue says, but in how it speaks. Consider these scenarios: The telephone bill arrives. Mary opens it and discovers to her horror that it is $500. She runs to her husband shouting, “I can’t believe this! How will we ever be able to pay this bill? Who’s been talking on the phone so much? It must be our son!” Her husband John replies gently, “It’s okay, dear. I’ll take care of it. It must be a mistake.” Mary relaxes, so pleased to have a calm, wise husband. What could have been a storm in the home turns serene.
Second scenario: The telephone bill arrives. Mary opens it and discovers a $500 bill. “That’s curious,” she says to her husband. “What do you make of it?” John snaps back, “It’s okay, dear! I’ll take care of it! It must be a mistake!” Mary tenses up, sensing the impatience of her husband with her. Why is he lashing out at her? And so a storm brews in what had been a pleasant day at home.
This is the power of your tongue. You have the power to stop the locomotion of anger with a soft response that brings it to a halt. Your kind word, your pleasant voice can unarm the angry word and voice, and set a peaceful tone for your home, your workplace, your classroom, even on the bus and in the elevator. Many a stormy face has been transformed to a bright smile by the mere pleasant remark.
2 The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly.
The word “fool” is not a barb intended as an insult. It is the description of a mindset. None of us want to be regarded as fools, but we must be willing to consider how what is said of the fool applies to us. We need to do the hard work of examining ourselves.
The tongue of the wise commends knowledge. The NKJ reads “uses knowledge rightly.” The wise know how to make knowledge beneficial and pleasing. The fool may have the same knowledge, but because of his ego or self-interest he turns people away from the knowledge. We all can think of people whom we regard as interesting to listen to, and those whom we avoid because of the pompous way in which they talk or their boring manner or simply the foolishness of what they say.
A problem with foolish speech is that the speaker is oblivious to being foolish. He thinks he is being wise. He makes his mistake in believing that speech itself is what impresses people. He goes to a party and sees how people gather around a good story teller; he thinks that to get that kind of attention he needs to tell stories. He sees a lawyer giving legal advice, perhaps a doctor discussing the latest news about cloning, or an avid gardener describing her new backyard project; he then throws in his knowledge so people will think highly of him as well, not realizing how foolish he sounds.
We certainly don’t want to be fools who pour out folly. How do we avoid that? Here are some tips about the wise. First, the wise become so because they are foremost lovers and learners of knowledge. The wise lawyer is fascinated with law; the wise car mechanic is intrigued with the functions of an engine. Thus, when they speak, their fascination infects their hearers. Secondly, the wise are attentive to their hearers. They look at the signs that indicate if the hearers are interested or not. Because they are enthused with their subject, they want others to be as well and so they keep tune to their audience.
Here where you’ve got to make sure you get the point. The above two observations are a way of saying that the wise are humble. They are fascinated with what they learn, not with being learned. Do you get the difference? If you study the Bible so that you can be thought knowledgeable by others and yourself, you will not be wise with your knowledge. But if you study the Bible because you are fascinated with God, you will become wise indeed. Humility, which in this case simply means being focused on truth rather than yourself, makes you wise. Arrogance, which keeps your attention on yourself, dumbs you down so much so that you fail to see your foolishness in the eyes of others.
3 The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.
God really does see us when we are sleeping and when we are awake. He actually does know when we’ve been bad or good. Let’s apply this knowledge about God to the subject of the tongue. Jesus said, “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:36-37). All those careless words we forgot, God remembers. That’s enough to make us squirm.
“I didn’t mean to sound angry.”
“I didn’t mean for you to take it that way.”
“I didn’t realize what I was saying.”
“I was tired at the time.”
“I was angry about something else.”
All those rationalizations sound hollow, don’t they, when we envision God playing back the recordings? It is hard to depict God as saying, “That’s okay that you crushed your brother’s spirit. You didn’t really mean to.” “That’s all right the time you wrecked the peace of your household because you were in a bad mood.”
But also think about this. That little kind remark you made to a child today – God heard you. When you encouraged a parent with a restless child, instead of rebuking her – God heard that. When you said “thank you” to the harried waiter and to the tired bus driver, God was listening. When you patiently listened to someone’s worries and prayed with him, God took notice.
For the eyes and the ears of the Lord are in every place. The soft answer is not too soft for him to miss. There is no exchange of words that are too trivial, for no one is trivial to God.
4 A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.
The King James calls it the “wholesome tongue”; the NIV refers to the “tongue that brings healing.” The gentle tongue is wholesome and brings healing. It is the speech of a mother soothing her child who just skinned her elbow and of a father comforting his child whose team loss the big match. It is the college student helping her roommate laugh after a breakup. It is the good word spoken in a meeting where tempers are starting to flare that calms everyone down or even makes them laugh. It is the word that builds up a deflated spirit. It is a word of great power, because it gives life; it rebuilds, gives a new start, gives hope, makes others want to live again.
But there is also a tongue that does just the opposite – the perverse tongue. The specific word indicates not merely an untruth, but an intent to bring hurt. It is what kids say to one another, like “Your parents aren’t your real parents; they took you because nobody else wanted you.” It is the gossip we pass on, the innuendos we slip out about a person’s character. It the exaggerations we make when we are upset, the comments like, “You can’t get anything right.”
What is really being addressed is intent. The person who desires to encourage others will speak healing words. The person who desires merely to assert himself, to get his frustration “off his chest,” will speak words that crush.
I didn’t care for the ESV’s use of the word “perverseness” for the Greek term because of the connotations that word has today; and yet, it does bring out the force intended here. To twist words so that what ought to be bringing blessing and healing; to take an opportunity that could be a “tree of life” for someone’s spirit, and, instead, turn it into a moment to break his spirit – that truly is perversion.
Now, fathers, I have saved the best for last! 5 A fool despises his father’s instruction, but whoever heeds reproof is prudent.
Let’s bathe in this instruction for a moment. Hear, O sons, a father’s instruction, and be attentive that you may gain insight (4:1). A wise son hears his father’s instruction (13:1). Ah yes! If only our children were so wise to appreciate our great wisdom. Well, back to understanding the text.
Certainly this does speak to children about the importance of learning from their fathers and mothers, but the principle applies to many other situations. “Instruction” could also be translated “discipline,” and they really go hand in hand. There is a sense in which you are being disciplined by me right now as I give instruction from God’s word. The principle is this: those who do well in life are those who learned to benefit from teaching and correction. Indeed, it is a mark of wisdom to appreciate correction.
Correction, however, is difficult to take. Most of us do not like to be corrected; we certainly don’t like to be disciplined. One reason is that oftentimes the one doing the correcting is not doing so with a “wholesome” tongue. Far from a gentle tongue, we are being corrected with a harsh tongue, and it stirs up our anger. It makes us defensive. Even then, however, the wise learn how to benefit. The wise will examine themselves regardless of who is correcting and the manner of the correcting.
Why? Because the wise want to improve themselves. And they recognize that every experience is a learning experience. The fool does not benefit, because his concern is his appearance. He wants to be thought important or cool. The irony, of course, is that he appears foolish to everyone else, while the wise only appear wiser. The more teachable we appear, the wiser we appear; the more willing to accept correction, the more respect we gain.
Conclusion
Now, let’s put these proverbs together and see what we learn. First of all, there is great power in what we say. All of us – whether we have lots of authority or are on the bottom of the totem pole – have power to heal or to wound, to build up or to tear down. By one remark, we can make a total stranger’s day or ruin it. By our tongue, we can be a joy to live and work with, or we can make it a nightmare for them. Today, when this service is over and you are leaving, you will either cheer others or dampen their spirits. You might do both: speak gently to one person and harshly to another. The tongue never speaks without helping or hurting.
The question before you, of course, is how you will use your tongue. When the benediction is given, what will be your first words? To whom will you speak? Will you speak words that will bless others? When the telephone rings tomorrow, will the response you give to the person on the other end be a tree of life? When you are spoken rudely to, when someone speaks to you in anger, will you turn that anger away with soft words?
When we look at speaking this way, it becomes unnerving. Every time we open our mouths, we open ourselves for judgment before the God who sees and hears everything. Go back to Jesus’ remark that we will have to give account for every careless remark. Our problem is that so many of our remarks are just that – careless. We do not give careful thought to what we say. Like the leg that kicks when tapped below the knee, so the tongue kicks in reflex to the taps it receives.
What are we to do? We can learn to better discipline our tongue so as to avoid stirring pots of trouble. There are tips one can learn to exercise control and to speak effectively, and we would be wise to study such things.
But Jesus presented the real issue. His warning we quoted concluded with this remark: "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil” (Matthew 12:33-35). To put it in the context of our proverbs, the good tongue comes from a good heart and a bad tongue from a bad heart. If you want to speak words of healing, then the real work needs to be done in the heart.
The other day I listened to a father tell a story about his son. The son determined that he would swim a distance that the father counseled was too far. Time went by and the son did not return. The father got in a boat to look for him and found him sitting on a dock exhausted and unable to swim back. The father then considered pleasantly with his son that probably the large meal he had had is what prevented him from being able to complete the distance. He upheld his son’s dignity. He spoke gentle words healing to the boy’s spirit.
Most of us fathers know what could have easily been said: How the father could have been angered that his counsel was not taken, that the son had caused worry for him, that he had to take the time to find him. The father could have ridiculed the son for failing. Knowing such things, I responded, “You are a good father.” Here is the enlightening part. He responded with surprise. In his mind, he was not telling a story about how he had done something right, but merely a pleasurable time with his son. He had not weighed in his mind what he should say to his son; he was not controlling his tongue; his tongue simply carried out what a loving father would say.
If you want to avoid sinning with your tongue; if you want to fulfill what God requires of you with your tongue, then, again, heed Jesus’ words: love God and love your neighbor. Love gives you wisdom; love will even do your thinking for you so that the “careless” words become “caring” words.
But loving is so hard to do! Well, here is a tip: the more you grasp the love of God for you; the more you contemplate his love, the more loving you will become and the more often your tongue will become as a tree of life to others. How do you grasp God’s love? You listen to what he has spoken. Here is one example.
For the mountains may depart
and the hills be removed,
but my steadfast love shall not depart from you,
and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,”
says the LORD, who has compassion on you (Isaiah 54:10)
Listen to the Scripture that God has spoken that you may know his love.
Remember one thing more. I said at the beginning that men and women of great power sit in this sanctuary. Be sure to know that there is One in here of infinitely greater power. His Word – Jesus the Son of God – did turn away the wrath that should have fallen upon us. His Word who came to us gentle and in meekness truly is the Tree of Life. And this Word came to us from a heart of love.
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:9-10).
May we be filled with such love that our tongues, that our whole beings, glorify the God of love and draw others to the Tree of Life. Such love is power indeed.
