The Power of Words

The past few weeks I have caught up with a number of friends at various times. There are moments where I complain that I dont have enough time to myself...but at the end of the day there is nothing more I enjoy than spending time with those people close to me. One thing I notice when I think about those people I spend most of my time with, they are all unique and special in their own way.

When I reflect on what I have done over the past few weeks, I think about the words I have spoken and the words that have been spoken to me and it reminds me of a message that I heard earlier in the year that spoke of how important words are. I have certain friends that speak nothing but good news and always see the positive side, while at the same time I have other friends who can be quite negative and frequently speak with depressing outlook.

Basically you could say that the words we speak highlight what is going on inside us. When I think about the words people say to me, what the speak of, it really gives me a picture of how they are feeling and what is going on in their life. But this applies to me just as much...the words I speak show where I am at both mentally and spiritually. But even more than that, there are a number of things that our words can do, in terms of impacting others and building up others...

Our words have the power to create
We all know the first chapter of the Bible, in Genesis 1:3 where God said "Let there be light," and there was light." God spoke it and through His words he created light in our world. We must understand that we too have the power to speak light and hope into our circumstances. As it speaks about in James 3, out tongue is like a rudder on a ship, the words we allow it to speak will ultimately dictate the path we follow. But to put it simply...a kind word encourages.

Our words show where our heart is
There are certain people I know who speak of nothing else but their girlfriend...this is a perfect example of a person whose words reveal where their heart is. Isaiah 54:1 is example of where someone sings worship to God, despite the circumstances. We will face situations we cannot control, but we can control how we respond! Our words have power and can create something, therefore when we speak out in faith, what we say will come to pass. I have seen this countless times in my workplace and it has ultimately taught me a lot. There are times when a project Im working on is not going well. If all I can do is talk negatively of the situation, then ultimately things will progressively get worse. But if I show  a positive approach, things invariably get better. Numbers 13:30-33 is a good example of how the same situation can be viewed and responded to differently by two people

³⁰ Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it."
 ³¹ But the men who had gone up with him said, "We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are." ³² And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, "The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. ³³ We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them."

 We see Caleb, a man who believed in the promises of God, wanting to take the land. Then we also see the remainder group, those who doubted God, only reporting of all the obstacles, not believing in the power of the promises of God.


Our words sow seeds
It can be said that what we speak is what we will get. We must understand that what we speak into other peoples lives will happen. Therefore it is essential that we speak words of encouragement and kindness. It says in Proverbs 12:25 -

An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.

This is the exact approach to life we should take! When we see people struggling, we should not highlight the negatives, but rather look for words of kindness that will encourage and strengthen the person.

While this all may sound cliched...this is something that comes from God. Sometimes we can forget how powerful our words can be. We must remember that one word can impact a life. We must chose to speaks words of life!

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 

(Ephesians 4:29)