THE POWER OF OUR WORDS.

Words. They're something that can build us up or they can hurt. They carry us through when we don't know what to do next. Sometimes, I'll get tongue-tied. I panic & stop, forget what comes after my previous thought. I'll blurt out my first response. It's like my mouth & my brain can't always connect.

I wonder how God views this. He knew I would be like this- a wordy-mouthed girl who sounds like she's talking a mile a minute who just wants people to hear her stories & her heart. He created me this way for a reason. Maybe it's so I can meet someone down the road or to further my future career. I'm not sure. I just hope that whatever the reason is, I'll help someone along the way. That my songs could meet someone right where they are. That my blog post can make something click in their minds. That my excessive, bizarre talking can help someone to find God & His love for them.

I really hope that one day, others can see just how important their words are. They hold so much power & they aren't even a tangible thing...but imagine if they were. Fearful words as a glass vase, hateful ones as a weapon, & loving, gentle ones as a newborn baby. Would we as humans with a conscience of how fragile these tangible things are be so reckless with our words if they are these tangible objects?

Proverbs 15:4 says this:

"The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit."

So why is it that we don't like or appreciate when others are cruel & abusive with their words towards us or others, yet we turn around & say the same evil things back? In my opinion, the problem with our world today is that words are seen as careless. They are taken, used & abused, & then we wonder why there is so much hurt, frustration, & anger built up & thrown out into our society. Instead of taking a minute to calm down & sort things out in a civilized manner, the words come thrashing out. Political matters are taken out of hand, fights break out, & families are torn apart. Honestly, it just hurts my heart to see how abusive people are to God's precious gift to us of speech.

But what if...what if we took the bad & made something great out of it?

Earlier in the book of Proverbs (12:6-7), it says that

"The words of the wicked lie in wait for the blood, but the speech of the upright rescues them. The wicked are overthrown & are no more, but the house of the righteous stands firm."

Could you imagine what would happen if we started to backtrack on the wicked words that try to slip up onto the edges of our tongues & instead replaced them with kindness?

We're human; we aren't going to be perfect. We'll slip up, stumble, & even fall trying to be a "perfect model." No one is perfect- we aren't God. We are, however, created in His image. So let's use our God-given gift of speech & take His precious gift of words & use them to be kind. Use them to be creative. Use them to help yourself build friendships, strengthen your relationships, get the job, save your marriage. Use them for His glory.