“Words satisfy the mind as much as fruit does the stomach;
good talk is as gratifying as a good harvest.
Words kill, words give life;
they’re either poison or fruit – you choose.” – Proverbs 18:20-21 (Msg)
What’s rooted inside of us, will be evidenced by the fruit our lives produce. Healthy or rotten. Our words can bring comfort and hope, or destruction and sadness. They can bring healing or harm. The list can go on… It’s in the way we wield the words that come from within us… for good or evil.
It really makes you think of how important our words are eh?
Think about some of the words that have helped shape you. The power of the words that have been spoken over you, that point you to your worth, and the hope that you have. The blessing that is brought from someone seeing the depths of who God created you to be and sharing that with you.
Think about the words that you long to hear from someone you love, but they’ve been idle. Or the words that you long to say to someone else – wishing you had the courage or opportunity to express how you truly feel about them.
Think about the words that you wish you could take back. Or the words you wished you never heard – how the pain of some words brought such devastation and brokenness to your soul.
Words shape us, break us, and some can even haunt us into believing that we’re something or someone who we’re not.
But God longs for us to live abundant lives that produce healthy fruit. He has, and continually is, speaking words of life over us. Drawing us to His Truth. Showing us our worth. Sharing how much He loves us and expressing all that He has purposed for us. Pointing us to let go of the wounded words that have brought about such brokenness, and to let Him replace those words with His Truth. Are we listening to the words He’s speaking to us?
As we go through our day today, many things will call for our words. And in each and every situation, we will have a choice to make with the words we decide to use. The privilege and opportunity we have as Jesus-followers is that in many of those situations, we can choose to speak words that give life. One of the best ways I’ve found to speak life over myself, and others is to use the Scriptures. They are after all, living and active, powerful words. (ref. Hebrews 4:12) Any words that point us to Jesus are words that matter and should be spoken. May the Words of Life be on our tongues today, with every word we think or say. Let’s speak life!
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