The Power of Words
Words, strung together, form sentences, paragraphs, chapters, and novels or non-fiction books. Verbally, they form thoughts, opinions, plans, ideas, and communication with each other, without which we would have just about zero relationship.
Words, and the ability to string them together, are what sets us apart from all the rest of His creation, like animals, if you classify The Chronicles of Narnia and Dr. Doolittle as works of fiction, that is! I once heard that words are like toothpaste in a tube. The tube gets stepped on and it oozes out, or gets stomped on, so it explodes out, and you can’t ever get it back in the tube. It’s out there, forever spoken into a blessing or curse, edifying or tearing down. Words form our resulting apologies and amends, when we spewed out the latter in a torrent of anger.
Without words, we have no wisdom, and no WORD of God, the Bible, God’s communication to us as His children to guide and obey as inerrant authority in the Christian faith. No sermons, no Sermon on the Mount, like we saw brought to life over season 2 and 3 in The Chosen, its power transforming those who heard Jesus’ words, thousands of years ago, like Matthew, the prodigal son Jewish tax collector working for the enemy, The Romans. His resulting spoken repentance transformed, reconciled, and healed his relationship with his parents, and we rejoiced. Or in Season 4, now finally available in The Chosen App, when there were finally words of repentance and forgiveness spoken between two disciples which I will leave unspoken, in case you haven’t seen it yet!
Every word is a choice. As writers, we are told to avoid adverbs, all those “ly” words that describe actions and adjectives. Instead, choose a strong verb. Like “spew” above, or one that jumped off the page to me yesterday when I couldn’t put a novel down (T.I. Lowe’s Indigo Isle, recommended by Francine Rivers, the author of the only novel that literally took my breath away at the end in Redeeming Love. When she speaks words, I listen!) “A tear mutinied down her face.” Who hasn’t had that happen to them at the most inappropriate times, that is, if we’ve kept our heart open to feeling words and emotions? It inspired me to start a journal of creative ways to express things, because you can’t ever remember them or find them again.
God used words to speak the entire world into being, again in the Christian Faith, from Genesis 1. I believe that our words have the same creative power, as He created us in His own image with the job of stewarding and governing this earth. If you want some wisdom over your word choices, just go to the Bible:
Set a guard over my mouth, Lord
Too much talk leads to sin. Be sensible and keep your mouth shut.
The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet and healing to the bones.
Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word spoken in right circumstances.
Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
Do not let any unwholesome words proceed from your mouth, but only what is helpful for edifying.
The tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. A tiny spark sets a great forest on fire…
The list goes on and on – google it if you need more words of wisdom to help you with this flap of mouth flesh and vibrating throat cords, if yours gets you into as much trouble as mine! If we hide His WORD in our hearts, like the ones above, it will be like a filter, or as Song of Solomon says, it will “capture the foxes in the vineyard,” words that have become a daily prayer of mine.
Final WORD here: Above all else, guard your heart, for from it is the wellspring of life. Another profound sentence from the Word, in Proverbs, that book of wisdom, that reveals the source of our words – each and every unspoken and spoken thought of our lives, out of which the expressions of our lives flow like a river. Let these verses form another collection of words, the prayers that are the cries of our heart.
