The Power of Words

Words are powerful. How do the words that others say and the words that you say affect you?

I’m Pastor Doug Sewell. Welcome to this episode of Beyond Six Verses.

In Proverbs 18:21 (New King James) says, death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit. In the New Living Translation, it says, the tongue can bring death or life. Those who love to talk will reap the consequences. The Passion Translation reads, your words are so powerful. They will kill or give life and the talkative person will reap the consequences.

We can see the power of words and advertisements. They’re designed to get her attention, stir our interest and desire and urge us to act, for example, to buy something.

We can see the power of words when we listen to what people we respect say to us. When a person says, thank you for something you’ve done. When a minister calls you an abomination, when your ex starts gossiping about you, when a teacher praises you – or criticizes you.

It doesn’t even matter if their words are accurate. If you regard this person as credible and their words is true, they will affect how you think, feel, and act. That’s one reason why Jesus told us to take heed what we hear. If a person isn’t contributing any more than drama and a headache to your life, perhaps you need to distance yourself from their words some.

But what about the words you say to or about yourself? You’re going to believe those words – again, regardless of their truth.

In Matthew 12 Jesus said, for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you, that for every idle word men may speak, they will give an account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words, will you will be justified. And by your words, you’ll be condemned.

He’s saying that your words will affect who you are and what you’re doing. For example, I know someone that keeps calling himself stupid, dumb, and similar terms. I know his ability. He’s none of those, and he’s proved it repeatedly, but what he says to himself every time he makes a mistake or get slowed down by a new situation just builds insecurity and anxiety for him, over and over.

What are we saying about ourselves? Are we saying things like, I can’t find a decent boyfriend or girlfriend? That sets self-sabotage in motion.

I can’t be in a relationship without cheating. Well, you’re setting yourself up to fail.

If you say, I’ll never have enough. This affects your decisions and that ultimately affects your income and your spending.

If you say, I’m not creative, then we will tune out the ideas that come our way.

If we say, I’m just a sinner saved by grace. No, I was a sinner. I got saved by grace through faith.

Now compare that with what God says about you:

I am just as if I never sinned or justified in Christ. You can find that in Romans 3:24, right after the verse that says, all have sinned.

Second Corinthians 5:17 calls me a new creation. Second Corinthians 5:21 says, I have right standing with God because of Jesus.

I am crucified with Christ – Galatians 2:20 I was raised with Christ – Colossians 3:1 I am a Holy Royal priest – 1 Peter 2. Jesus is an heir of God, so I am a joint heir – Romans 8. I have access to Christ’s wisdom – 1 Corinthians 1:30 and reading on into 1 Corinthians 2.

I was ransomed and redeemed. In Matthew 20:28 Jesus said he would be a ransom for many, and Ephesians 1 says we have redemption through his blood, and forgiveness of sins.

We can also say that Jesus redeemed me and made me a priest and a King or queen unto him. You can get that out of Revelation 5:9-10. In fact, let’s read that. And they sang a new song saying, you are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals. For you were slain, and have redeemed us to God by your blood, out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation and have made us Kings and priests to our God. Or the New Living Translation says, a kingdom of priests.

So what are you saying to yourself? Are they kingdom words, or they words that tear you down, put you down, and trap you in defeat?

Brooke Castillo, a life coach, recommended writing down all the things we say to or about ourselves with pen and paper.

Now that you have your list, start looking at it. Things will stand out when you see them. For example, what if you wrote down, I always miss my deadlines, or nobody loves me.

For each negative thing you wrote down, ask yourself these two questions. Is this what I want to believe about myself? And is this what I want to continue happening?

If either of those questions is a no, draw a line through the negative statement, and create a positive statement based on what Jesus has done for you or who the Bible says you are.

You can replace. I always miss my deadlines with, I believe God can give me wisdom, skill, and focus so I can finish projects on time.

You can replace. Nobody loves me, with Jesus loves me, And proverbs says, finding a spouse is a good thing. Or I recognize the self defeating thoughts, words and actions, and I changed them to think like Jesus thinks about me.

This is Pastor Doug Sewell. Thank you for listening to the Beyond Six Verses podcast. If you would take a moment to share this podcast with your friends, I’d appreciate it. I’ll be back next week.

(Transcript provided by descript.com)