Words – Do They Really Mean Anything?
Words. Words spoken. Words written. Words thought. Words sung in a song. Do they really mean anything? YES, they do. Words not only “mean” something, they ARE something. Let me explain. A thought can be seen as the “birth” of a word. A word in your mind does not have power (to become either life or death) until your release it by speaking it.
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it (for death or life).” ~ Proverbs 18:21(AMP)
You can see the spoken word as one of two things: life OR death. There is no in between. EVERY WORD spoken fits into one of these categories. Jesus was very clear about His spoken words.
John 6:63 (NIV), “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.”
Then we can know for certain that the opposite is true for words spoken that are not true to the heart of Jesus – they are death.
Try to imagine it like this: Every word that is spoken from our mouths turn into spirit (see John 6:63 above). The words we speak that are spoken from the true heart of the Father – words of peace, joy, love, gentleness, patience, etc; these words breed LIFE on this earth. However, if we speak out of anger, jealousy, envy, etc; these words breed DEATH on the earth. This vivid picture has helped me many times to be slow to speak, allowing me to watch the words very carefully that proceed out of my mouth.
HOW CAN WE FIX THIS? By staying in the Word of God (the Bible) AND living a lifestyle of prayer and worship intertwined with fellowship and accountability from those who live to please God.
“A good person produces good deeds from a good heart, and an evil person produces evil deeds from an evil heart. Whatever is in your heart determines what you say.” ~Luke 6:45 (NLT)
Don’t get me wrong, even though I’ve had all sorts of “revelations” about the words I speak, it is still MY BIGGEST STRUGGLE. I have found it so difficult to not speak out of emotion, especially towards those I value the most. I have adopted two scriptures that I meditate on daily (and have been doing so for the last 13 years) that help me to be accountable for the words I think and therefore the words I speak.
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” ~Phillipians 4:8 (NIV)
“Let no foul or polluting language, nor evil word nor unwholesome or worthless talk [ever] come out of your mouth, but only such [speech] as is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others, as is fitting to the need and the occasion, that is may be a blessing and give grace (God’s favor) to those who hear it.” ~Ephesians 4:29 (AMP)
This entry is an archived post, originally published at my blog So You Call Yourself A Christian?
