words are power
I feel certain that I have blogged about what I am about to say before, but for some reason I could not find the post. Besides, I think it probably bears repeating, so here goes.
Over and over lately I have been hearing people talk about the power that words have. This is something that I can personally attest to, being a words of affirmation person. I actually crave words. There are things that I know I am good at (like my job), yet I still desire to hear someone speak that word and say that I am good at it. My security doesn't depend on hearing someone tell me I'm good, but hearing that just brings renewed joy and life to my heart.
When I was on the beach with my lovely friend, we were talking about how we don't affirm men enough. As women we just don't realize how frequently men need to be told that they are doing a good job, that we respect and appreciate them, that we are thankful for them. We told the lifeguard at the ocean that we appreciated him and what a great and attentive lifeguard he was. You could tell that it made his day, his face lit up and he smiled so widely. The sad thing is we were probably the only people that told him that that day.
Yesterday my pastor spoke about Hebrews 11:20,21. These verses talk about the faith of Issac and Jacob. They had the faith to speak life into death. They looked into the face of death and spoke life into the lives of their children. The power of a word is life or death. It is a double edged sword that can either protect and preserve life or cause destruction and devastation.
I know that there are plenty of times when I have spoken a harsh word to someone that has not brought life, but death instead. I regret those moments, those words that I cannot take back.
However, even more than that I regret the moments where I have had the chance to speak life and have instead remained silent. I regret having the chance to speak life into the death that surrounds me and not fully embracing that chance. I regret my silence. The power of a word only exists if the word is spoken. If we aren't willing to speak life then it is the same as speaking death.
Yes, there should be thought before speech if we are to intentionally speak life instead of death, but then we must speak. We must no longer be silent. We must no longer allow death to win through silence. We must actively embrace the power of words to speak life into death. We must ask for eyes to see the people and places where we are called to speak life. We must ask for the words to speak that they may truly be life-giving. We must speak life.
Over and over lately I have been hearing people talk about the power that words have. This is something that I can personally attest to, being a words of affirmation person. I actually crave words. There are things that I know I am good at (like my job), yet I still desire to hear someone speak that word and say that I am good at it. My security doesn't depend on hearing someone tell me I'm good, but hearing that just brings renewed joy and life to my heart.
When I was on the beach with my lovely friend, we were talking about how we don't affirm men enough. As women we just don't realize how frequently men need to be told that they are doing a good job, that we respect and appreciate them, that we are thankful for them. We told the lifeguard at the ocean that we appreciated him and what a great and attentive lifeguard he was. You could tell that it made his day, his face lit up and he smiled so widely. The sad thing is we were probably the only people that told him that that day.
Yesterday my pastor spoke about Hebrews 11:20,21. These verses talk about the faith of Issac and Jacob. They had the faith to speak life into death. They looked into the face of death and spoke life into the lives of their children. The power of a word is life or death. It is a double edged sword that can either protect and preserve life or cause destruction and devastation.
I know that there are plenty of times when I have spoken a harsh word to someone that has not brought life, but death instead. I regret those moments, those words that I cannot take back.
However, even more than that I regret the moments where I have had the chance to speak life and have instead remained silent. I regret having the chance to speak life into the death that surrounds me and not fully embracing that chance. I regret my silence. The power of a word only exists if the word is spoken. If we aren't willing to speak life then it is the same as speaking death.
Yes, there should be thought before speech if we are to intentionally speak life instead of death, but then we must speak. We must no longer be silent. We must no longer allow death to win through silence. We must actively embrace the power of words to speak life into death. We must ask for eyes to see the people and places where we are called to speak life. We must ask for the words to speak that they may truly be life-giving. We must speak life.
Comments
Post a Comment