Pastor's Desk
August 20 , 2006
WE SOMETIMES UNDERESTIMATE the spiritual power of our words. Perhaps that is because in our modern society we have excluded those unseen supernatural realities from our consideration focussing rather on what can be “scientifically” proven. But the spoken word has incredible spiritual impact. Its impact is not only what it communicates but what it declares and pronounces. In our society the most common way to understand the declarative power of the word is when in a wedding ceremony the bride and groom speak covenantal vows to each other and the pastor or marriage commissioner pronounces them husband and wife. Those spoken words change everything for that couple as they are uttered in the presence of witness and before God.
What we don’t realize is that potentially all of our speech is significant. Jesus said that we will have to give account for every careless word we have spoken (Matthew 12:36). It is as if somewhere there is a recording device running which will be played back to us on judgment day. In light of that no doubt we are wholly dependant on God’s grace because which one of us has not said things we have regretted. The words we speak every day are important "Death and life are in the power of the tongue." (Proverbs 18:21)
There must have been some early church Christians who had forgotten the importance of wholesome speech because they needed to be warned by James:"With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be." (James 3:9-10) As this exhortation comes down to us through the centuries will do well to monitor carefully what we say. I believe that many times without being fully aware of what we say we are cursing people around us and sometimes even speaking self-imposed curses on ourselves. When we make a negative pronouncement about someone or ourselves we are cooperating with whatever evil intention the devil may have in the situation. As those who have been redeemed from the curse it is far better for us to speak blessing on those around us and ourselves and in this way advance the kingdom of God. Even of our enemies Jesus said, "Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you." (Luke 6:28) How much more should we speak blessings on ourselves, our family members, our friends, our neighbours, and our work colleagues? God has blessed us with eternal salvation, a hope, joy and peace. Let us by our words bless those in our world so that they may also call on God for salvation.
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May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
This page was last updated on Friday, August 18, 2006