Words {Part 2}

Like I was saying in Part One of this series, the God I worship is a God who uses words.

He spoke the world into being.  He could have created it any way that He wanted to, and the Bible says that He spoke it into being.

I was created in the image of a God who uses words.

I love that.

Words are so very powerful…

The Bible says that the tongue has the power of life and death.  (Prov 18:14)

LIFE

and

DEATH

That’s serious stuff, folks.

Another translation (The Message) says,

Words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit – you choose.

Whoa.

I choose fruit.

Don’t you think we’d all choose fruit if we really saw our words as being poison or fruit?

I’d like to think we live in a world where most people would answer “yes” to that question.

Ever since Annie Downs gave her talk at the Influence Conference, I’ve been meditating on this truth.

My tongue is creating life or death every time I say something.

Gossip, complaining, criticizing a waiter when I’m out to eat, bashing celebrities, talking crap about family members, and spewing venomous words about the loud neighbors across the street…

POISON.

It’s all poison.

It’s bringing death.

Our words are powerful.

Even if we don’t believe it, we have influence.

It starts in our homes…

What do my sweet girls hear me saying?

Words of life or words of death?

Am I dishing up fruit or poison with my words each day?

This is convicting stuff people!

Think about it…what kind of words do you use most often?

Philipians 4:8 tells us to think about whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, anything that is excellent or praiseworthy.

Luke 6:45 says, “a good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart.  For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”

Dude.

The words we speak are flowing out of the heart we have.

Ouch.

I know that I’m guilty of speaking death far more than I’d like to admit.

It’s so easy to just grumble a little.  To complain about people who are clearly annoying.  To criticize people who have hurt me.

I mean that’s only human, right?

It is human.

We cannot speak true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy things all day every day.

That’s why we need a rescuer :)

But I think it’s time we take the free will we have been given and start choosing to speak love.

Last week on her blog, Annie Downs laid out a challenge to speak up and speak love.  And, being the generous person she is, she is posting 31 practical ways that we can do this.

Annie is passionate about reaching teen girls, and she often writes to that audience, but I’m a third of the way through her book Speak Love and let me tell you this is a message for us old ladies too!

Follow her blog to read the awesome truth God has given her to share and also to keep up with the 31 practical ways to Speak LOVE!

Stay tuned for the next part of this series where I share what I’ve personally been convicted to do about all this.