Stewardship & Our Words – Session V
Have you ever been around someone who always speaks negative about herself (“I am so fat, a mess, failure, broke, stupid”) or about her circumstances (“I can’t afford it” “Nothing ever works out for me” “Life is hard” or “No one wants to be around/date/marry me”)?
If we listen and look closely enough we will discover her world is simply a reflection of her failure to properly steward her words.
She has invited lack, insecurity, negativity, fear, toxicity, envy and anxiety in using her own speech.
That is the impact, influence and power of our words.
Creation itself began with words. God spoke “Let there be” and “there was.” (Gen 1:3)
Until He SPOKE there was no light, stars, seas, land or mankind and here in Genesis the first lesson in the power of the spoken word is given. Paul says God “calls those things that are not as though they were.” (Rom 4:17). Words determine “those things.”
Solomon in fact devoted much of Proverbs to the importance of right speech.
Our words will invite blessings (Prov 10:6), be a fountain of life (10:11), offer spiritual nourishment (10:21), spread knowledge (15:7) and be sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. (16:24)
Or recklessly spoken they will “pierce like a sword.” (11:18)
They can also create unnecessary strife and be our undoing. (18:6,7).
God likens our words to fruit that we eat.
“From the fruit (words) of his lips is a man filled with good things. . .” (11:14) (13:2) (18:20).
Right words will always be filling and satisfying. Wrong words will be poisonous and deadly.
The fruit we daily dine on is our choice.
We often give little thought to our words forgetting that “He who guards his lips (mindful of our words) guards his life, but he who speaks rashly (blurting out anything we may be feeling in the moment) will come to ruin.” (13:3)
David realized the impact of words and thus prayed “Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.” (Ps 141:3)
Peter wrote that if we want to “love life and see good days” we need to “keep our tongue from speaking evil. . .” (1 Pet 3:10) and Paul reminds us to keep our words “full of grace . . .” (Col 4:6).
Using words, Christ healed the sick, calmed storms, defeated the enemy, brought forth the dead and liberated the sinner.
One of His most profound statements is that “what goes into someone’s mouth doesn’t defile them but what comes OUT of their mouth, that is what defiles them.” (Matt 15:11) Meaning their words!
We wrongly believe this only applies to words concerning others however it also includes ourselves.
How can we expect to achieve our goals, get the raise, lose the weight, find a spouse, start a dream business, receive unprecedented financial provision, buy the new home or whatever our heart’s desire may be when our words are telling us and everyone else why we can’t?
Should we complain and grumble even though we prophesied our current living conditions using our very own words?
Or should we remember that we can change our words thus changing our lives?
Words are prophetic and they are powerful. Capable of creating our current circumstances and predicting our future they carry immense weight and worth which is why we are instructed to steward them.
As God created this world with “Let there be” how will we create ours?
From this day forward what words will we use to follow “Let there be?”
Sandra Hubbard
Inspirational Influencer/Instructor/Writer/Speaker
Join the Discussion