Little Words Say What You Mean; Big Words Are Too Often Gobbledygook

Ed, my old neighbor from Saskatchewan, has a great dislike for the game of ‘Scrabble.’ “It is a game that gives too few points to ordinary words, and gives too many points for obscure, long-lettered, words,” Ed insists.

A holiday game of Scrabble still has my old neighbor grumbling. Ed wrote down two of the words a relative used in the game. He asked me if I knew what the two words meant. I had no quick definitions of pediculosis and microscopical from his game.

Ed now knows pediculosis means to be infected with lice, and that microscopical means too small to be seen by the human eye, but large enough to be studied under a microscope. I agree with Ed, that big words may be limited in meaning and understood only by a select few. I also like little words that are recognized by all to mean big things, such as sky, land, air, sun, man, woman, love, life, God, etc. Too many big words may mean confusion or words that become gobbledygook or meaningless.

It is good to consider our words for even short words like, ‘yes’ and ‘no,’ can require a great deal of thought at times. It is a good idea to keep the words we say soft and sweet because we never know when we will have to eat them. Is the least important word, ‘I’? Are, ‘thank you,’ the two most important words? Words can be careless, cruel, bitter, brutal, or they can be gracious, joyous, timely, and loving.

The book of James cautions us about the words that come off our tongues. It states, “The tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. No man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue, we praise our Lord and Father, and with it, we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. This should not be.”

Jesus says, “For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” Our words reflect what is stored up in our hearts. Jesus also cautions: “But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words, you will be condemned.”

Words come out of our mouths readily and often thoughtlessly. Most of us will admit that we have had our words come back to bite us. Sadly, we may have little regard for the power of our words or God’s words. We may ignore that the word of God is living and active, dividing soul and spirit, and judging the thoughts and attitudes of our hearts. Our thoughts and words, as well as our actions, are never hidden from God who holds us accountable for them.

Because we are accountable to God, it is always time for us to fix our thoughts, words, and actions on Jesus. God made Him (Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us so that by faith in him, we might become the righteousness of God; those who are eager to serve God, instead of sin.

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