Words Matter

Proverbs 18:21 (AMP)
Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
and they who indulge in it shall eat
the fruit of it [for death or life].

“Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words can never hurt you.” How many times did we hear that adage when we were growing up? While those who told us that had our best interest in mind, from a Biblical standpoint nothing could be further from the Truth. To fully understand the power of words we must go back to the book of Genesis and see what God’s “original intent” was with the words He used. There we find that God used words to create. Genesis 1:3 says, “Then God said, Let there be light; and there was light.” A more accurate translation states that God said, “Light be.” When He spoke those words, what he spoke came into being. Throughout the first chapter of Genesis God repeatedly spoke and things came into being.

The world may not acknowledge the power of words on the basis of what the Bible says, but it recognizes the impact that words have in the development of our lives. Psychiatrists and psychologists warn of the damage that can result when the wrong kind of words are spoken to a child. Statements like, “Can’t you ever do anything right?” or “You’ll never amount to anything” may be said in a moment of anger, but the echo of such statements live on inside a child for the rest of his life and may ultimately damage his spirit. Proverbs 15:4 confirms that. The Message version puts it this way: “Kind words heal and help; cutting words wound and maim.”

It is sad that the world and many in the Church believe there is some kind of “demilitarized zone” between God’s Kingdom and Satan’s. Yet the Word is quite clear in Colossians 1:13 that there are two kingdoms and we are either in one or the other. Furthermore, believers need to understand that if their words are not firmly rooted in God’s Word, then by default, they are rooted in enemy territory. Statements like “My head’s killing me” or “I was scared to death” may be made to emphasize a point, but we must realize that the spirit world does not respond based on what we meant; it simply responds to the words spoken.

Words that carry forth faith, love and hope come from God. Words of fear, lack and worry come from the devil. By the words we speak we either bring the Lord and His blessings into our lives or the devil and his misery into our lives. So we must begin to think about what we are saying. We must determine to say only those things that line up with what God says in His Word.

Just as words create pictures in our mind, the words we speak are also creating our future. Isn’t it wonderful to think that God loves us so much that He has given us a tool (our words) to use to help us create the life we want to have? When we combine our words with His Word they will create the life that the world only dreams of!

Proverbs 18:21 (The Message)
Words kill, words give life;
they’re either poison or fruit—you choose.

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