The Power of Words

Proverbs 18:21 The tongue as the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat it's fruit.

No doubt there have been instances when words spoken to you hurt deeply. It is inevitable. It becomes harmful and even devastating when repeated again and again. For they become ingrained in the mind, changing our beliefs about ourselves. Harmful words cause death on many levels, including the death of believing what God says about us. Like many others, I experienced the debilitating hurt of harsh words. Hearing things time after time contradicted the impact of the truth of God's Word in my heart and mind, causing a constant inner battle. It was agonizing to fight within myself for so long.

Many get stuck there, yearning for change and never seeing it come about. But the Truth prevails. Nothing happens that God does not know about. He can make something good come out of something meant for harm.

Genesis 50:20 You intended it to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done......(NIV)

Believing these words translates to acting on them. The focus must change. We can choose with our will to stop focusing on the harmful words spoken to us and focus on a deliberate action. When we admit how devastated we felt when this was done to us, we can confess to God that no one we come in contact with will feel that lashing of the tongue from us. Personally, my heart's cry every morning is to speak life into others. While it isn't accomplished 100%, it is the deliberate focus.

Proverbs 18:4 The words of a man's mouth are deep waters, but the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.

It is necessary to act on what these verses say. We not only pray for answers from God, but we also act on them when He shows us what the answer is. Harmful words meant for evil will be transformed into life-giving words meant to restore and encourage others. Others will know how precious they are to Him because they have heard it simply by our manner of speech toward them.

Matthew 12:36 But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgement for every careless word they have spoken.

This verse tells us that even when we say things in playing and teasing with laughter, those words bring life or death. This one is a challenge because I have a dry (sarcastic) wit. So many words come across harshly without the intention of that. We have the opportunity to speak His words of encouragement and refreshing to all we meet! A friend shared a phrase he heard, and it stuck with me as well. Taste your words. What a great plan before speaking. Let's make it a point to change lives today through the power of our tongue.

Be Inspired. Be Inspiring.