Our Stories
The Word Without Sin
By Abigail Welborn | posted 06/10/2010
"If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check." (James 3:2b NIV)
Can you remember the cruelest thing someone’s ever said to you? What about the most hurtful thing you’ve said to someone else? I thought of something really spiteful I said to my father. As soon as the words had come out of my mouth, I regretted them; even now, I can feel how hurt he was. That’s the power of the word.
I’ve been reading a book with some friends of mine called The Four Agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz. While I can’t recommend the book, because it has so little basis in truth, it does contain some good principles (which are true whether you know they’re from God or not). The author asks us to make agreements with ourselves to change the way we’ve been behaving, the first of which is, "Be impeccable with your word."
If you’re like me, you immediately understood impeccable to mean faultless, perfect, spotless, or above reproach (some common synonyms) - in other words, he’s asking you to tell the truth. It’s the same way we usually interpret the ninth commandment ("Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor" Ex. 20:16 KJV). But Ruiz goes far beyond simply not lying; he unpacks it, as Doug would say, in a way that would make Jesus proud. He explains that the root of impeccable is the Latin peccatus, which is "sin" (familiar to many from the "Agnus Dei": qui tollis peccata mundi). So to be impeccable with your word literally means to speak without sin.
Now, I know what you’re saying. How is that any different than being honest? In a way it is the same, but it encompasses so much more. It means don’t gossip. It means be fully cognizant of the power of your word before you say something, so that you say only things that are uplifting and beneficial. "Consider how many times you have gossiped about the person you love the most to gain the support of others for your point of view," Ruiz writes. It’s something I’m sure I’ve done, and I didn’t even think about it! He goes on to suggest that as we stop spreading poison and instead use the word in the correct way, we’ll become less susceptible to gossip and hatred - a principle echoed in Romans 12:2, "...be transformed by the renewing of your mind" (NIV).
Think how many verses in the Bible are about our words. Some tell us what we should do: "encourage one another and build each other up" (1 Thes. 5:11 NIV); "[s]peak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs" (Eph. 5:19 NIV); "teach and admonish one another" (Col. 3:16 NIV). Some also tell us what not to do: "do not swear [make oaths]" (Matt. 5:34 NIV); "[d]o not blaspheme God or curse the ruler of your people" (Ex. 22:28 NIV); "do not grumble" (1 Cor. 9:11 NIV). All of these are encompassed by the convenient reminder: "Be impeccable with your word."
One problem with a self-help book divorced from the truth of God is that it leaves you powerless to change. When you cannot live up to its ideals, you feel even worse than you did before. So I’ll close with encouragement: you don’t have to do this on your own. Indeed, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible" (Matt. 19:26 NIV). Therefore, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly" (Col. 3:16 NIV), so that your word may be without sin.
Abigail can be reached via email here.
