The Power of Words

The power of life and death

Proverbs 18:21 NLT

The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.

This is not to say that talking is bad, but that the way you talk has consequences.

If you are gossiping, lying, putting people down, what are the consequences? You might get in trouble. But actually, most of the time we don’t get punished directly. Speaking in a way that dishonors God and others can seriously hurt people; your friends and family; it can ruin relationships.

But when you use words to lift God and others up what happens? It may not be a direct reward, but your relationship with God, and your relationship with others will get better. When you speak encouraging words to someone going through a hard time, it shows them that you really care. When you build someone up, rather than tear them down, you are honoring God and sharing His joy and love with others.

Paul wrote this to the church in Ephesus Ephesians 4:29

Ephesians 4:29 NLT

Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.

Remember, we are made in the image of God, so don’t put others down.

Truth

If we are going to follow Jesus and his commands, one of the things we have to be careful of is telling the truth. Everybody knows that lying is bad. But what about telling the truth. Not the truth as in when your mom asks you if you broke her vase. You should tell the truth that way. But the truth we’re talking about now is what we say when we know people aren’t doing what they should be.

If I know that someone is cheating in math class. What do I do? The truth needs to be spoken, but we need to be speaking the truth in love. We are to do everything in love! that’s what 1 Corinthians 16:14 says. That means that when we need to call someone out on something, we are to do it in a loving way. The Bible has clear teachings of certain things that we need to do, or we need to stay away from. and when we see our friends living life against how God’s word says they should, if we love them, what should we do? Tell them the truth, but don’t be harsh, or it wont do any good. Let them know that the reason your calling them out is out of love.

Prayer

Prayer is powerful. When we pray God listens. If you have a hard time praying, I have some encouragement for you. You don’t have to get all fancy or “churchy” when you pray. Just talk to God.

Your prayers; the words you say to God matter more than you could ever imagine. So don’t be afraid to pray.