There he stood and she stood too, husband and wife, blissful and in love – until the battle trumpet sounded and the war of words broke out. His bitter words shot forth like the bullets from an AK. He shot her … with power of his words, and the bullet pierced deep into her soul.
As I looked in horror, I suddenly understood what the king Solomon meant in Proverbs 12:18 when he said, There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts…
But I could not help, for I witnessed the battle in a vision.
I watched her standing before him, bleeding, hand on her heart, with a look of utter surprise and horror at the words that proceeded out of his mouth, but he was too enraged to notice the damage he had caused to her heart.
Then I saw her head spinning, then she stopped and put a bandage on her heart and pulled out the biggest, shiniest and sharpest sword that I had never seen, and she aimed the sword of words straight for his heart. He knelt before her, bleeding, hand on his heart, but she was too enraged to notice the damage that she had caused to his heart.
And just as she had done, he got up and bandaged his heart and the war of words flew back and forth. Each time the words dropped from their mouth, it was as though they had dropped bombs and created landmines in their home. Strangely enough, the only spectators that cheered on the battle, were the spiritual forces of evil, they circled them and watched as in the days of the Roman Colosseum fights.
She yelled, and he yelled … and they yelled over each other. They yelled so loud that neither could hear the other, and still, they yelled. The louder they yelled, the more they sharpened their words for the slaughter, polished to flash like lightning. They slashed to the right, with their words, then to the left, and wherever their blade turned, they slashed (Excerpt taken from God’s sword of judgment in Ezekiel 21:15-17).
In the horde of words spoken, damage was done that could not be remedied, except through the restoration of the Cross.
Oh how my heart bled for them!
In their battle, I witnessed the power of a tongue untamed, and the destruction that words can bring. Finally, I understood what James 3:2-10 meant,
Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way. We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself. People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!
The battle I witnessed troubled me in the spirit, so I asked the Holy One if the damage would have been averted if they fought their war with the art of silence?…