In the story of the Tower of Babel in the Bible, we read that people on earth at one time all spoke the same language. In their arrogance, they decided to start building a massive tower that would reach to the heavens. But God confused their language, the Bible says, taking their power away and humbling them (Genesis 11:7). The building of the tower stopped and the people scattered to various parts of the world.
The story of the Tower of Babel has some vital applications to our circumstances today. I am thinking now about how many groups of people in the world are starting to speak the same languages of hate and discord no matter what their native languages may be. They are building “towers,” if you will, of influence and power that are negatively influencing the advance of the kingdom of God in the world.
Into the growing spread of divisive language, our God enters and breaks up the network of hostile talk to replace it with a language of love, which is then spread to all the world. The result is a discourse that is grounded in Christ and not on ourselves. It is a communication that is built on giving and not taking away. The language of love transcends all other languages and fosters forgiveness over domination.
God wants there to be no more babbling about what we dislike in one another, but, instead, an understanding that we work better together when we speak first in love.
A great reminder to eliminate grumbling from our language as well. I find it so easy to slip into this “language.”