Using Language for God's good not ours
From Genesis 11 we find these words: 1 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2 And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. 4 Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." 5 The Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built. 6 And the Lord said, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another's speech." 8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9 Therefore it was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.
Language can both connect or divide. Those who know more than one language will usually be fascinated by those who know one they don't know. Those who know just one language sometimes will feel isolated or even threatened to hear the language of another. You may have been in another land and not heard English for days, but when you did you feel relieved and excited that you could communicate with someone. Nellie and I have been blessed when we spoke Spanish to someone who had not heard it in a while and then we received special attention to our needs even beyond what we expected.
This passage from Genesis seeks to explain the why of so many languages. During the time of one language by one people in one place, the thought was to make a name for themselves. And depending on the scholar, some think the building was to reach the heights of God both physically and spiritually. God steps in and introduces new languages and building stopped because they could no longer understand one another. And the one people was scattered all over the face of the earth.
The point of the story in my opinion is that when we stop using our language to praise and worship God and use it only for ourselves, then we're babbling. When we use our language to tear others down and to belittle them, then we're babbling. We should use our language to build others up and to invite them to come to love in Jesus' name in their lives. When we use language to confuse and control, we're babbling and not serving God's purpose.
Stop babbling!
PRAYER: Loving God, may the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to Thee not only today but all days. May my words be of praise to You and life affirmation to Yours. This I pray in the language I know and in the name of He who brought new tongues to use, Jesus, my Lord and Savior, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
