Words have power. Words can build up and inspire. Or they can tear down and deflate.
Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear.
Words have power. Words can build up and inspire. Or they can tear down and deflate. Ephesians 4:29 urges us to use well the power of words, to strengthen and encourage others. Through our words, we can actually share God’s grace with others. Will you use the power of your words today for good?
Words are powerful. They can build up and inspire. Or they can tear down and deflate. Ephesians 4:29 urges us to take seriously the power of our words.
In Ephesians 4:22-24, our life in Christ is pictured as a matter of putting off the old self and putting on the new. We get to strip off the negative and dress up in the positive. The verses that follow offer specific applications of this general principle. In Ephesians 4:25 we’re to put off falsehood and speak truthfully instead. In Ephesians 4:26 we’re to take off sinful expressions of anger. In Ephesians 4:28 thieves are to stop stealing and start working.
Ephesians 4:29 continues this pattern of moral exhortation, beginning with the negative to be rejected before moving to the positive to be embraced: “Let no evil [sapros] talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful [agathos] for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear.” The Greek word sapros can mean “rotten, of poor quality, bad, or harmful.” It shows up in the saying of Jesus, “[E]very good [agathon] tree bears good fruit, but a bad [sapron] tree bears bad fruit” (Matthew 7:17). As Christians, we need to put away rotten words that harm and hurt others, words that tear down rather than building up.
By contrast, we are to use our language positively. The words that come out of our mouths should be “useful [agathos] for building up” (Ephesians 4:29). The word translated here as “helpful” can simply mean “good.” Note two ways in which we can use the power of words for good. First, our words can build up people according to their needs. Second, our words can “give grace to those who hear.” That’s right. Your words can be a source of grace to others.
Ephesians 4:29 challenges us to consider how we use the power of our words. Do your words tear down or hurt others? Do you get stuck in complaining that discourages others and fractures the community? Or do you use the power of speech for good, for building up those around you, and for being a channel of God’s grace to them?
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