This was a speech given in the 9th grade bible class by Katie Risley, and then beautifully delivered again to the CCA faculty and staff at in-service. This is an excellent example of classical rhetorical skills in action.  This speech demonstrates the value of classsical, Christian education. Students learn to think deeply about real issues, to stretch their understanding of God's word, and to speak passionately defending their beliefs. 

Angel Green had taken enough. Enough pain. Enough torment.

Wasn’t it all enough already?

Why stay here another day and fight the pain?

All it ever did was get worse.

One morning she was found hanging from a tree next to her school bus stop. Her bullies would find her, and know what they had done . She had been called a “slut” and a “whore” one too many times. She was teased constantly because her father was jailed for hitting her. People saw her pain, and used it for their own twisted purposes. Later Angel’s mother found a suicide note saying: “Why did I deserve this pain? Have you ever thought about what you said to me, huh? Maybe not! Because you killed me every day. You told me [so many horrible things about myself] that I started to believe it. And I was stupid for that. Every morning, day, and night, I look in the mirror and cry, and replay the harmful words in my head.”

Words are able to turn someone against themselves. What we say has serious affect.  Words have immense power to do either good or evil. How you use them fully effects yourself and others.

Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

The tongue is powerful. It is a weapon of life or death, two incredibly potent things. The conversations it creates can be life saving or incredibly destructive. Bruce Wult says Proverbs 18:21 in isolation looks like it’s saying we listen and meditate on the words of other people, whether they be life or death. However, we get from verse 20 that this verse is actually talking about eating the consequences of the way we speak ourselves. Imagine you are a farmer and you are planting and sowing seeds. If you plant bad seeds, what are you going to get? Bad crops. Likewise, if you plant good seeds, you are going to get good crops. These crops you are growing, these are your food. These are what you are going to eat. All the words you say travel right back to your soul and have the ability to, if they’re negative words, destroy it, or, positive, nurture it.

Even a person with good intentions can cause harm, and likewise a sinful person’s advice can end up doing a lot of good. This is not what the verse is saying. In George Lawson’s Exposition of the Book of Proverbs, he explains the root of what we say lies in our intentions. For someone to speak life or death, they have to pursue it, desire it, and stick with it. People have to go out of their way to speak good or evil. And the ultimate fruit for good or evil words is heaven or hell.

This is not something to be taken lightly. So how do you act on it?

You realize the weight of your words. Words have the capability of damaging and condemning your own soul, but they can also have an enormous effect on others. Offensive things such as obscenity, indecency, profanity, and racial insults can have the same effect on a person as a physical blow. They can cause people negative psychological reactions and, the more horrible the words, the easier they are to remember. Like Angela said in her suicide note, she would remember the things the girls told her. She couldn’t get them out of her head.

On the flip side, encouraging words can have an extremely positive effect. I know I have been deeply hurt by words, and words have been extremely uplifting to me. I’m sure this applies to each of you. As Christians, we should be incredibly concerned about ours words because through them, we our representing our God. Hurtful words can push someone away from the church. If we use our words to tell the Gospel, we can show others the possibility of eternal life. As Keith Simmons states simply, “Our words bring results. We can help people with our words or we can condemn them.” Words are powerful. And words can do extreme amounts of good.

Ms. Audrey Hunt taught a music theory class. One day a teen whose name was Edward walked into her class. The first thing she noticed about Edward was just how tall he was, followed by how sad his eyes were. As class continued throughout the semester, Edward was quiet, never participated in class, and never smiled. Ms. Hunt noticed this and tried to engage him in conversation on the campus, but he rarely engaged back. However Ms. Hunt persisted. She could even coax a smile out of him sometimes. And the more positive interest she showed in Edward, the more his grades improved. But not enough. After his final exam at the end of the term, Edward walked out looking like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. The next Tuesday he would have to meet with Ms. Hunt to see how his final grade turned out, and he knew it would not turn out well. Ms. Hunt saw how Edward walked out of her final, and she spent the whole weekend feeling troubled. When Tuesday came and Edward was late she began to worry and get upset. But Edward showed up late and apologized. Then he confessed to her with a trembling voice he knew he had made a low grade on the final exam, that he didn’t deserve to because he never participated in class. He was a lazy, selfish, ugly, and good-for-nothing person that no one could ever love, and he was sorry for being a lost cause. Ms. Hunt made a decision right there. She said, and I quote, “You may appear to be a D student, but you are an A person. I believe in you now, and I will always be there for you. I am here for you now, and I will always be here for you. Never, ever forget that. Now, go and create the world you dream of. Believe in yourself. I will be watching. And by the way, Edward- I love you.”

Ms. Hunt had never expressed this much care for a student before, and she left surprised at her own actions. She spent the whole night wondering if she had made the right decision, when, at 3 A.M, she got a phone call. It was a priest from Edward’s church who called to thank Ms. Hunt on behalf of Edward’s family for saving his life. Edward had planned to kill himself after his meeting with her. He left a note explaining to his parents that all he ever wanted to be was loved, and he was sorry for being unlovable. He would hang himself in the closet and rid them of all their inconveniences. When Ms. Hunt spoke to him and gave him an A, it was the first time he had ever felt loved and seen. It gave him a glimmer of hope to keep on living. Words have the ability to create life.

In conclusion, what you say has the power of life or death. Each and every one of us has the ability to create or destroy with your tongue.

What will you do? Choose carefully.  There are permanent consequences.