I enjoy a hot cup of tea. It just brings me joy. Happiness in a cup. One of my favorite tea brands has cute little quotes on their tea bags. My tea this morning said “say what you mean, mean what you say”. It got me to thinking about the power of words. There is great power in a word. Have you ever considered how the world came to be? Pick up your Bible and read the first chapter of Genesis, it is full of the power of words. Genesis 1:3 says ‘Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.’ He didn’t say bring light forth by following step a, b and c. He simply said “Let there be light’, and guess what? There was light! Soak it in for a moment, the power of the word spoken by the Creator of all creation! I hope it stops you in your steps, causes you to give praise to His name, give thanks for His creation and remember the power of the spoken word. There are more beautiful life giving quotes regarding words. John 1:1 in the NLT says ‘In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.’ Take another moment here and meditate on this truth, the power, and the beauty within it. Just breathe it in.
Now let’s talk about our own words and why we need to use them with great care because of their power. Have you ever had a word spoken about you in a negative way? Something a friend or family member may have said, wounding you to the core? How about the opposite? Have you had a friend or loved one speak encouragement or love to you, leaving you feeling loved and limitless? I have experienced and been guilty of both. There are many warnings on how we should use our words in the Bible. In Proverbs 18:21 it tells us ‘The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.’ This is only one of many references regarding the power of our words. Jesus cautions us in Matthew 12: 34-37 regarding our words. He tells us the words spewing out of our mouth often reveal the hidden ugliness of our hearts, and we will be accountable for EVERY idle word we speak. This is a Monica paraphrase for certain, but you get the impact, right? Words have power. They have the power to heal or destroy, to reveal the love and grace renewing our heart or the lack of surrender in our lives. The words we speak reveal our relationship with Jesus. When we lash out at others in anger, it is not a testimony of who they are, but a testimony of the condition of our heart. It is the darkness and unresolved bitterness in our own heart spewing out in our words. Until we lay it at the foot of the cross, we will never be free from its control. In the book of James it talks about how the tongue is such a small part of our body, yet is capable of great destruction. His instruction to us in James 1:19 is to ‘…be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to get angry.’ Oh but how often we fail to heed this instruction. I have been so guilty. We so desire to be heard, we want our hurts to be known, or grievances aired and our inconveniences understood and rectified! Oh how silly we are to be this way. We complain, slander, gossip, back bite, and lash out at those around us. We let words come out of our mouth before they have the opportunity to be sanctified. There may even be times we feel like we are being Christ-like while speaking these things. However, I can tell you from experience and conviction, nothing could be further from the truth. In Jesus, there is great grace and great love. No it isn’t easy pushing aside our feelings and giving up our desire to wallow in our hurt by using our words to hurt others, but it is following Christ to deny our own selfish desires. Freedom comes when we let go of our right to be heard (our desire to be justified by our words), and lay it at His feet.
The fact is words have power. They can cause people to believe negative things about who they are, and what they are not. Words can also build others up to believe they are unstoppable and all their dreams will come true. We must be cautious on both accounts. Words of correction should be spoken out of love and truth, and words of encouragement should reflect truth and wisdom. Flattery does no more favor than belittlement. Let your words be kind, a reflection of who Christ is, and His grace and love flowing through you into the lives of those around you. I saw a post on Pinterest once saying remember to THINK before you speak. Is it the Truth? Is it Helpful? Is it Inspiring? Is it Necessary? Is it Kind? If the answer to any of those are no, let it not escape your lips! Just because something is truthful, does not mean it is necessary. Confess the urge to speak anything other than words of life, and watch Jesus work on those desires and align them with His own.
Polly Frances 