The Power of Our Words

What you say makes all the difference.  Close akin to what you say is what you think.  Henry Ford put it this way, “Whether you believe you can or you can’t you are right”.  In this case the thought is parent to the action.  Is it not best then to very thoughtfully choose the words we say?  Why not start with speaking and thinking what we know to be true?  Because truth is of God, any truth you speak has the weight of a heavenly kingdom behind it.

Because Jehovah God cannot lie and will only speak “truth”, here’s what the prophet Isaiah had to say about God’s speaking, “So shall My word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to Me void (empty), but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it” (55:11).  (Here the word of God is paralleled with rain and snow that water the earth, produce crops and do not return to the heavens.)  God’s word is 100% effective.  About this Jesus said, For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot(the smallest letter in Hebrew) or one tittle (the smallest stroke in a Hebrew letter) will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled” (Matthew 5:18).

So, when your word lines up with God’s word and your life pleases Him here’s what will happen, “You will also declare a thing, and it will be established for you; so light will shine on your ways” (Job 22:28).

That’s powerful!  It’s almost like making prophets out of each one of us, particularly as our lives are aligned with God’s will.  The sobering fact of the matter is whether or not our lives line up with God’s will, our words have an impact—a creating impact.  We speak of what we are going to do or not do, and that’s what we do or not do.  More critically, our words help shape the lives of others, lifting them up or tearing them down.

Negatively, were you as a parent to say to your child, “You just can’t do math,” or, “You can’t sing,” or “You will never amount to anything”; you will have on your hands a ne’er-do-well who can’t sing or do math.  Unless, and it’s a big unless, he breaks out of that word curse; for you have surely cursed him.

Positively, were you as a parent to say to your child, “I’m so proud of what you’re doing in your math classes, maybe you’ll be an engineer some day;” or, “You sing so well I’m going to arrange for you to have voice lessons;” or “There’s nothing you can’t do!”  This being the case you may well have on your hands the first singing engineer employed by the successor to NASA.  In speaking so positively you have put on him a “word blessing”.   

Because of the power of our words Jesus said, “But I say to you that for every idle (non-profitable and injurious) word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment” (Matthew 12:36).

So—watch what you say!

C.F.