Celebratory decorations, illumination, songs and greetings all around–a season of love, sharing and togetherness. The best part about this season is Jesus, as in all seasons; however, the celebratory ambience stimulates one to reach out, connect and greet not only close friends and family but also the ones who we seldom remember. This bit is something I personally enjoy–just calling up, checking on friends and family, and encouraging them. I love how our words have the power to bring peace and joy; how a simple greeting can bring forth ton loads of happiness and smiles.
From the beginning of December, the kids and I have been doing an Advent series called, “Truth in the Tinsel”. I highly recommend it–the series is fun and includes interesting craft work that aids to effectively discuss the birth of Jesus. On one of the days, we did a craft on Zachariah. His face had a cross marked across his mouth, depicting that his mouth was shut. Remember the story of Zachariah’s mouth being shut until his son was born?
We read in Luke 1: 18-20,
18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”19 The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”
The passage clearly points to “shutting the mouth of doubt”. The angel of God came up to inform him that he is going to have a son but instead to believing it, he reasons his statement with doubt. This is a great example of how powerful our words are–Yes! Even the ones we utter so carelessly. Be it a syllable or a full-fledged sentence, every utterance has power and are not mere sounds. Have you noticed sound tracks? Their structure is similar to the human DNA. Fascinating, isn’t it? This just points to the fact that there is power in every utterance. And even the groanings of the heart that cannot be uttered is hear by God. Romans 8:26 says,
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.
The Word of God–every Word spoken and written–has the power over life and death. It starts from the very beginning, Genesis 1. Throughout the chapter we read, “God said” multiple times. Every creation was created when God spoke. He spoke and there was light; He spoke and there were animals. We read in Scriptures that everything we see on earth and beyond was created by God. In Hebrews 11:3, we read,
3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible
But when God made man, He breathed the breath of life–because He created us in His own image. Therefore, our words have power too, because we have been made in His likeness. One of the most-quoted verses in pretext of “power of words” is Proverbs 18:21,
“The tongue has the power of life and death,
and those who love it will eat its fruit.”
Life and death–two extremes–are in the power of our tongue! A strong reminder indeed. What we speak has power, and the more we understand the gravity of it, the better we use our tongue. Words mean so much in our salvation journey as well; more than we know it. Romans 10: 9-10–the popular set of verses quoted when one decides to walk in the path of salvation.
9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
The word “mouth” is mentioned in both the verses. So, even our salvation take confession from our mouth! We have to open our mouth and confess and not just pray it in our mind. We take our words so lightly that oftentimes, we don’t even think before we speak. This often leads to regret at a later point. This activity was an reminder for me as well; I took some time to repent and confess the things that I have loosely spoken. I urge you to take time out and ask the Holy Spirit to convict you of all the times that you have negatively spoken over yourself or others. It can even be a derogatory joke–don’t dismiss that!
I don’t know what you are going through at the moment but whatever it is, I encourage you to speak life over it. Declare God’s Word over your difficult situations–Out Loud! Let your walls echo those words. And let us be intentional about our words; time to break away from mindless talks.
Mathew 12:36-37 says,
36 But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. 37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Remember this: We are accountable to God for all that we say. So, my prayer is that you and I will change the way we treat our words; I urge you to use your tongue to bless and encourage others rather than condemn, judge or criticize. Afterall, it is a matter of life and death, isn’t it? This Christmas, let us choose loving words over hate, encouragement over criticism and speak life over death. Let us not stop with this season, but continue to reflect Christ-like love throughout the New Year and the years that follow.
We wish you a blessed season of togetherness, speaking life-giving words, loving and giving.
Consider this:
This week let us observe the way we talk and bring about deliberate changes in alignment to God’s word:
Check: Keep a tab on the number of times you say negative things or anything remotely close to it. Be it self-deprecatory statements or belittling jokes, tag them all in the “Don’t” list.
Cut: Time to sever those negative ties from your vocabulary. These negative statements take root from an experience or, even worse, similar statements spoken over you at some point in the past. Don’t just prune it from the outside but uproot it with the help of the Holy Spirit. It takes forgiveness and a whole lot of God to help you get rid of it completely.
Change: Be intentional about change. When you do that, it becomes a norm in your life. There is a tendency in all of us to resist change but overcome that with the Word of God. I challenge you to look into a mirror every day and speak truth from the Bible over yourself.