In other blog posts, I’ve talked about the power of clarity. Clarity is vital to living your life on-purpose and starts with your WHY. I’ve also talked about the power that comes from being unoffendable, because when you refuse to be offended, you are refusing to give others power over your direction in life. When I was writing the post on being unoffendable, it hit me that understanding both our own purpose, and how we relate to others starts with understanding the power of words.
The words we speak, the words we read, and maybe most importantly the words that repeat in our heads over and over again, set our mood, our emotions, and our responses. How many times have you had a bad day, simply because of words spoken in haste while getting ready for work in the morning? Think about the good days that you’ve had as a result of even one kind word from a friend or coworker.
Words create acceptance or rejection, as well as conviction or innocence.
Great writing, great speaking, and great thinking all use words. Words define meaning, words describe objects and feelings, concepts and theories. How would we communicate any ideas at all without words? Everything we see began with A Word.
Words stir emotion, and also suppress emotion. Words give identity, words build up and words tear down.
The words you use provide an impression of who you are, they provide a memory of you. Think about people you know well, and your general feelings about their personality. That impression was built on the words they’ve spoken to you.
Words can inspire for either good or bad. We see that throughout history, words stirring a nation to war, or to peace.
Words are easily spoken but very hard to take back. You have probably heard this analogy but if you haven’t, it’s a good one. If you take a tube of toothpaste, it’s very easy to squeeze it all out, right? But what if someone then asked you to put it all back in? That would be impossible. It’s the same with words. It’s very easy to squeeze them out, but once they’re out, they can’t be put back in.
Words stir emotion, and also suppress emotion. Words give identity, words build up and words tear down.
Words endure. There are universal words in all languages, as well as words that are completely specific to one language. Love and hate are two words that I believe every language has a word for.
As I am writing this, it has now hit me why John was inspired to say in the Bible, in John 1:1-3: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning, through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.”
And in Genesis 1: 3: And God said. “Let there be light and there was light.” Did you catch that God spoke and created with Words? Infinite Power is revealed in His words.
As a follower and therefore adopted Son of the most High, I too have power in my words. My Words, and My Thoughts are powerful when spoken as I surrender to God’s will.
As powerful as a spoken word is, a word Unspoken can also be powerful, but the result is catastrophic. A word not spoken can prevent a person from ever giving or receiving grace. Real lasting grace for me or any human can only come from receiving grace from belief in Jesus.
Now I understand for the first time in my life why one word, when spoken with faith changes eternity, and that is the Power of the Word: Jesus.