A British writer and former member of Parliament, Gyles Brandreth, wanted to answer the question, “How many words do we say in our lifetime?” After some research, he suggested that the average person speaks about 30,000 words per day. Then, he took heed to some insurance actuary tables and estimated a 77-year life span. After that, it’s just math.
And the total is…843,150,000! Eight hundred and forty-three million words. Wow. That is a lot of nouns, verbs, pronouns, and adverbs!
It is a particularly daunting number of words when you consider the message from Matthew 12:36, “But I tell you that everyone will have to give an account on the day of judgment for every EMPTY word they have spoken.”
NO wonder James spends so much time talking about taming the tongue. How will we ever be able to give an account for every EMPTY word we have spoken? How many of those 843,150,000 words were EMPTY?
In Greek, that word “empty” can be translated “idle,” “slow,” or “barren.” And that same word is used in James 2:20, where we are told that faith without works is empty or “dead”.
The bottom line is, we are going to be held accountable for every word that we speak that has no real meaning. Those words did not build anyone up or encourage anyone. Those words were fillers or silly words that carried no real meaning or thought. Perhaps they were crude or even curse words. Perhaps they were just thrown at someone in the heat of an argument. Perhaps we were bending the truth a bit as we spoke them.
And we are going to give an account for each one!
That thought emphasizes the truth that our tongues really are “a restless evil, full of deadly poison” (James 3:8). It takes real effort to reign in our tongues.
So maybe this week we all ought to pay some attention to the 30,000 words we speak each day. May they be a blessing to the hearer. May they bring a smile to someone’s face. May they be appropriate in all settings. May they reflect the character of Christ.
“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord my Rock and my Redeemer” (Psalm 19:14).
And the total is…843,150,000! Eight hundred and forty-three million words. Wow. That is a lot of nouns, verbs, pronouns, and adverbs!
It is a particularly daunting number of words when you consider the message from Matthew 12:36, “But I tell you that everyone will have to give an account on the day of judgment for every EMPTY word they have spoken.”
NO wonder James spends so much time talking about taming the tongue. How will we ever be able to give an account for every EMPTY word we have spoken? How many of those 843,150,000 words were EMPTY?
In Greek, that word “empty” can be translated “idle,” “slow,” or “barren.” And that same word is used in James 2:20, where we are told that faith without works is empty or “dead”.
The bottom line is, we are going to be held accountable for every word that we speak that has no real meaning. Those words did not build anyone up or encourage anyone. Those words were fillers or silly words that carried no real meaning or thought. Perhaps they were crude or even curse words. Perhaps they were just thrown at someone in the heat of an argument. Perhaps we were bending the truth a bit as we spoke them.
And we are going to give an account for each one!
That thought emphasizes the truth that our tongues really are “a restless evil, full of deadly poison” (James 3:8). It takes real effort to reign in our tongues.
So maybe this week we all ought to pay some attention to the 30,000 words we speak each day. May they be a blessing to the hearer. May they bring a smile to someone’s face. May they be appropriate in all settings. May they reflect the character of Christ.
“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord my Rock and my Redeemer” (Psalm 19:14).
Sherry Worel
Sherry Worel is a Bible teacher at heart and lives a life of ministry. She’s been involved at Coast Hills teaching Women’s LIFE, Bible studies, online courses, devotionals, participating in Upstream conversations, and much more. Having a love for education, Sherry has over 50 years of teaching experience with schools, churches, and mission agencies. As well as earning her Master’s at Talbot Seminary, she rounded out her education with 35 years as Head of School at Stoneybrooke Christian School. Sherry is happiest with a book or fishing pole in hand.