MOVING FORWARD â—½ ENCOURAGEMENT
Words of Life
by Pam Charro
I have spent too many years of my Christian life unaware of the power of my words. I can't really explain the reason that I was careless for so long in this way, as the Bible makes it very clear that God spoke creation into being, and we are made in his image. Regardless, I don't recall it being talked about much in church until fairly recently; maybe that's part of the reason I didn't really consciously think about it.
But it's HUGE!
In Ezekiel 37, the Lord showed the prophet a seemingly hopeless army of dry bones and directed him to speak words of life over it. Those bones rose, as the power of God and his words restored them, and stood strong again!
In Mark 11, Jesus taught the disciples that anyone could speak to a mountain and command it to be thrown into the sea, and if that person believed it would happen, it would! And Proverbs 18 says that the power of life and death are in the tongue. So it's obvious that God cares very much about the words that are spoken by his children.
Since becoming more aware of my words, I've found I'm also more sensitive to the words of others. Wasted, negative, empty words are harder on my ears now, and my spirit feels grieved by them. I definitely don't let myself get away with such talk anymore. I've also noticed that others seem to want to be around me more because my speech is more attractive. My hope is that others feel seen and loved after listening to me, and that it might want them to better know my beautiful God.
Too much sorrow and hopelessness exists in our world.
May my words bring hope and life.