August 15, 2017 

By Anthony Sicilia

We have heard of the old saying “sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me.” The truth is the tongue has a great power and it is up to each man , boy, girl and or woman to control what comes out of their mouth. Life and Death are in the power of the tongue. How do I know this? two examples of this would be the Egyptian ruler in the time of the God’s great prophet Moses. Pharaoh pronounced judgement on the first born of the Hebrews during the time that God was displaying his great signs, and wonders.  

10 different times the Egyptian ruler refused to listen to Moses and Aaron regarding letting Israel go worship God in the wilderness. He paid the price for his wicked ways with ten very severe judgements brought forth from God. Again I say that life and death are in the power of the tongue.

Proverbs 18:21King James Version (KJV)

²¹ Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

James explains that the tongue can be a world of iniquity.

James 3:5-7King James Version (KJV)

⁵ Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!

⁶ And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.

⁷ For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:

Through the week, I had received news that the bill collector was about to knock on my door demanding I pay up.

This is where I learned a valuable lesson. That lesson included that when I deal with cell phone companies. I should learn to throw bread rather than stones.

“Throw Bread Not Stones.”

In bewilderment I said Okay, I don’t know what that means but I will try it. This man who said these words to me went on to explain.  He said that even though I am dismayed and maybe a little discouraged by receiving such catastrophic news I should try to remain calm and work with them in a calm fashion.

So, I called my phone company and kindly explained to the cell phone company that I wasn’t able to pay the company’s monetary request. I also explained to them the reason the bill was so high in the past few months. After that the credit agent looked at my record and she said up until this point for the last four years you have been able to pay every bill you have ever had. They agreed to give me a grace period, a financial discount and manage my debt in two manageable bill payments.

“I threw bread not stones.”  After this ordeal, I began to think how often do we as people throw around our opinions amongst the vast majority. Opinions mean nothing.  However there is something to be said for experience. Experiences and opinions are very different believe me, I have experienced when people’s opinions have gotten them into trouble. A biblical example of this would the runaway Jonah.

Jonah 1:1-3King James Version (KJV)

1 Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,

² Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.

³ But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

In this world we all must be careful with our speech. It must be seasoned with salt so that we know the best way to answer every man…

Proverbs 15:1King James Version (KJV)

15 A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a97yDnWEoUE&w=560&h=315]