The Power of Words-Part 1

“Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” The lie that children taunt one another with and believe to be true. However, this does not align with scripture. Every thing that we interact with, what we see, taste, smell, touch, feel; was created by words. In the beginning God created all things by speaking them into existence. Here is a heavy thought, you and I were created in his image so we also have been granted this authority. Don’t believe it? Take another look throughout the entirety of scripture. Noah cursed Canaan by words, Isaac blessed Jacob by words, Jacob blessed Joseph’s sons by words, Balak tried to get Balaam to curse the Israelites by words but the LORD only allowed him to bless them by words. Moses, Joshua, Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, and prophet after prophet spoke words, and miracles or judgement followed-that’s just the Old Testament. Jesus himself was the Word that became flesh!! Miracle after miracle he spoke directly to the infirmity and it came to pass, Peter healed two crippled people by words, he also raised a dead woman back to life by words, Paul’s eyes were opened by words, he then cast out demons by words, blinded a sorcerer by words, and on and on and on.

My point is that words are the powerful force in this world and beyond. How we choose to use them, abuse them, or honor them makes all the difference. Unfortunately, we have disregarded this concept and believed lies such as the one spoken of earlier. Or we believe that actions speak louder than words. The truth is our actions are based off of words and thoughts that come from our heart. Words are the foundation of how we act, because we do what we believe.

Of course, the mightiest words are those from God for he upholds them always. Our God does not say anything that he does not mean. This is why the Bible places so much emphasis on taking his word and planting it in our hearts, guarding our hearts, (Matthew 13,Mark 4,Luke 8) and speaking aloud our thoughts(Romans 10:10). Jesus taught this to his disciples and his teaching has been passed on to us. One highly important part to this is believing in the power of our words because we cast death or life with every word we speak.

James writes of this and makes a very good point in the necessity of taming our tongues. If we are ambassadors of Christ and his love, then cursing someone in my car when they cut me off, or belittling someone who posted something foolish on social media has consequences. We all have an experience, if we reflect for a bit, with a person who influenced our lives in a negative way because of a statement he/she made.

I know for myself that I was told when I was young, “You should never sing. It doesn’t sound good.” So, I was always fearful of singing in front of others. I never shared any music that I created. I allowed those words to penetrate deep and it took a mighty work of God for me to step out one day and sing to my wife before I proposed. In fact, years later many barriers had to be destroyed in the Name of Jesus in order for me to stand in front of strangers to worship the Lord. One day after a couple years of songwriting and praising God alone, I heard the Lord speak to me, “Share this with Lawrence.” He knew exactly the person who would operate according to this principle to give life. I texted him a song that was dear to my heart, that the Lord had been working on with me for quite a while. That afternoon, he contacted me and told me how the song moved him. From that moment, we began to meet-just us two-praying, worshiping, and writing songs together.

Over and over, even after mistakes, my brother exhorted me with his words and guided me to press on. Praise God for my brother Lawrence who encouraged me!! Otherwise, I would never experience the sharing and blessing of others with the music the Spirit has given us. This website may not have come to existence, our ministry may never have materialized and the list goes on. The power of words is instrumental in us partnering with the plan God has for us or for the destruction of what could be. Choose life!!