Words!

Words!

When there are many words, transgression and offense are unavoidable, But he who controls his lips and keeps thoughtful silence is wise. PROVERBS 10:19 AMP

The importance and impact of words cannot be overemphasied. God himself is the perfect example of the power of words when he created all the beautiful aspects of creation that we see today simply by speaking his powerful word. Oh, they were not mere words; they were words spoken out of a powerful mouth, backed up by a powerful name and spoken out by the One called the Omnipotent God. The same power is given to us, made in His likeness, so we can also replicate the same attribute of God. The devil understood that power when he twisted God's express commands to Adam, and the problems associated with that act of disobedience then still lives with us today.

These days, hypocrisy and lying lips seem to be the norm. We have categorized lies by colour, we add exaggerations for effect and impact, we justify a zero here and there to make extra income, or we simply lie about what we do, simply because we have to take care of our families. One way to avoid this extreme is to consider this: do I really need to say anything here? If God were to stand right beside me in all his majesty and holiness, would I really say this? And really, God is everywhere, watching what we do. Words are very powerful, and we must consider how they are sown in the lives of the people who God has placed in our care. Words have power to reproduce after its own kind, just like God commanded all that he created and has life to reproduce after their own kind. If I will be all that God desires, I must audit my life and words and make sure that whatever I say is targeted at good fruitfulness.

We bring the same situation to church, and we pretend to like other people that we obviously cannot stand, and we make the usual noises about love, whilst our hearts speak something completely different. Why do we think that we can deceive the creator of our hearts? Does He not see all that we are and do? Do we not know or realise that our human relationships are reflections of our spiritual relationship with God? If I deal with fellow men in hypocrisy, how would I expect it to be any different from how I relate with God?

From today, I take the decision to watch what I say and how I say it. Silence is seen as wisdom; even a fool is thought to be wise unless and until the mouth is opened. I learn the importance of the right words spoken at the right time from the lives of Samson and Jesus. In both circumstances, their words carried eternal implications. May God help me. His time of favour is here.