Do you believe there is power in your words? Your words and confessions have the power to change your life, you situation, your atmosphere.. Counter intuitive right? Welcome to Christianity, welcome to a relationship with your Savior, Jesus Christ.
Proverbs 18:21 "The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit."
How do I live a life that out of my mouth only represents the thoughts and words of God? How do I ensure my lips only speak of love and not of negativity? How do I use my words only to praise, not to nag or complain or curse? How do I be the best representation of Christ that I was destined to be? How do I be the best encourager in every situation that I am placed in. I want to walk into a place and people see Jesus in me.
Sounds so sexy, but so hard to do. In everyday life at work or with people, its so easy to speak frivolously and feed on negativity. So easy to gossip and slander, so easy to feed on drama... but it's only by God's grace that we are empowered not to do things our flesh gravitates to. I'm not perfect, but God is moulding me to be more and more like Him and I'm leaning on Him to make me more like Him.
The Case of the Missing Keys
This evening when I got home from work, I had messaged Mark to ask him if he had taken dinner yet. I got a reply saying that because he has left his keys in office and his receptionist had left, he was stranded in the gym for over an hour after his workout, waiting for her to pick up her phone.
Listen, this has not been the first time Mark has left his keys somewhere. We have gotten into arguments before over his absent-mindedness over misplacing his keys several times. I can't understand why he just is unable to be like me -- always put your keys in a specific place and check if its there whenever leaving any location.
The thing is Mark isn't me. Areas where I'm conscientious, he isn't. Areas where he is strong at, I struggle. That must be why he's my partner, we stand beside and alongside each other, helping where the other person is weak.
It's not as if annoyance doesn't arise when Mark does something I view as careless, but I'm learning that I have control over my tongue and I have the power to either speak words of life, or to go giving him a tongue lashing.
Proverbs 13:3 "The one who guards his mouth preserves his life; The one who opens wide his lips comes to ruin."
Instead, I reply, "Father, I ask you to alert Christine (his receptionist) to pick up her phone so Mark will not be stranded outside his home. In the powerful name of Jesus, please help." "Don't be panicked or frustrated, it's ok". And then for some reason, I added "He will help you in the next 5 minutes, Christine will contact you soon, she will, honey, be patient, I'm waiting with you." Then, when these words rolled off my tongue, I said a silent utterance to my God to tell Him that I know my declaration and my spoken word has the power to move His heart into action.
Genesis 1:2-3 "The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.…"
As He spoke the world into being, the power of my words have the ability to "make things happen".
BOOM. Mark sends me 2 print screens some time later. Indeed, as I had declared, she had called back within 5 minutes to sort the handing of the keys over.
Coincidence? I don't believe in it. I believe in Godincidence.
May this testimony forever remind me that there is power in the words I speak. I can choose the very same tongue to bless and to curse and I want to, everytime, choose to bless. Everytime there is a chance to allow negativity to take hold of me, I want to choose to walk away and I want to choose to use my words to change my atmosphere, to change my life, to change my world.
Proverbs 21:23 "He who guards his mouth and his tongue, Guards his soul from troubles."