This year I have decided to be mindful of what comes out of my mouth. I want the words that come out of my mouth to have meaning. I want to be able to back up my words with my actions. I don’t want to make promises I cannot keep. Which means I have to be aware of the commitments I make. I have learned this past year that the words you say mean something to those who are listening to them. I want to be impeccable with my words (The Four Agreements by Miguel Ruiz).
Sometimes we make promises and we forget to keep them. There is nothing like hurting your children or loved ones when you make a promise and do not keep it. We make plans with friends and renege on those plans. We tell people we are going to do something for them and we don’t do it. Empty promises, spoken words with no meaning behind them.
It used to be a time when our words meant something. If you said it, then it was so. But in the society we live in now, promises are broken all the time. We live in a society where it’s all about me and my needs. We need to get back to the old ways, when the words we spoke mattered.
The bible tells us the words we speak matter. It tells us the words we speak will not come back to us void. Isaiah 55:11, “So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” Meaning that what we speak matters. We have to be mindful of what we say because our words will accomplish, what they were set out to do.
Our words can cause hurt, pain or anger or they can heal and bring joy. We can speak life or we can speak death. In Proverbs 18:21 it says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.” Our words can be positive and can cause those who hear them to feel empowered. Or our words can be negative causing those who hear them to become discouraged.
The words we speak matter. If we use words to hurt someone, they accomplish just what we intended them to do, hurt the other person. We are created in the image of God. God spoke a word to create everything in the universe. In Genesis 1:3, God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. When God spoke things happened. When we speak things happen.
When Jesus walked the earth he used his words to change lives. He spoke words of hope, deliverance, and healing into the lives of everyone he came in contact with. Remember the woman at the well. He told her I will give you living water and you will not thirst no more. Our words should be just like that, changing the lives of everyone we meet.
If God’s word meant something, then our words should mean something. We need to be more like Jesus and use our words to encourage and uplift. Instead of using them to tear down and destroy one another. Let’s start being more mindful of the words we use. Remember that old saying that if you do not have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. Maybe the next time we open our mouths to say something hurtful, we would pause and think about what we are going to say and think about the damage those words might cause. Remember our words have power. The power to inspire and uplift and the power to tear down and destroy.
LSW
Linda Sharp-Williams 