What Can a Word Do?

What can a word do? A whole lot. A whole lot of good. Or a whole lot of bad. Whoever came up with the saying, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me,"--well, they were wrong. Words hold great power. They can bring healing. They can bring injury. They can build up. They can tear down. They can encourage. They can discourage. They can bring hope. They can bring despair. They can bring life. They can bring death. Proverbs 18:21 says, "Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit." Words.Are.Power. I did not truly understand the power of a spoken word until I got deep into the Word of God.

This morning I was struck once again by the fact that John 1:1-2 says of Jesus, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning." In the beginning? Okay, let's go back to the beginning--Genesis 1:1-3, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. Then God said, 'Let there be light, and there was light.'" God said. Spoke creation into being. Awesome, life-giving words--those words created beauty. According to Gen. 1:26, God spoke mankind into being: "Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.'" Us--Father, Son, Holy Spirit. All present at creation. All eternal. So John 1 refers back to Genesis, the beginning, when the Word was present, with God and was God Himself. Think on that for a moment. . . Then John 1:14 goes on to say, "The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." Jesus came in flesh and blood to show us the Father. His character. His gentle love. His fierce love. His healing power. His heart. To share life-giving words. Yes, the Word came to bring us life-giving words. He is what a word was meant to be. Life-giving, loving, challenging, kind, correctional, healing, affirming, hopeful, peaceful, truthful. I could go on and on. He is simply full of grace and truth (John 1:14) and those previous descriptions seem to fall under grace or truth, or both. His words are life. For our good. Always for our good.

Maybe you have had some words spoken to you that tore at your very core. They brought injury. They belittled you. They brought despair. Can I be so bold to say that all those words spoken were straight from the enemy of your soul, the devil--maybe through a person (and we need to be just as aware that we can speak damaging words to others)! The devil may have surrounded you for some time with negative thoughts you have come to believe about yourself. It doesn't take much for the enemy to get a foothold in our minds; he will use whatever means he can to discourage us and make us miserable. He wants us to keep our heads DOWN, instead of looking UP at God. Revelation 12:10 says that he is an accuser. Jesus called him the father of lies (John 8:44). But Jesus gives you the true Father's words, words of TRUTH. He will tear down all the lies with His truth. Jesus, the Word, will blast them out of your mind and replace them with His life-giving words. I recently read a devotion which said, "You can be loved by many, but deep down you'll feel needy and insecure until you understand how God feels about you."*

 

Does the Word of God intimidate you? The holiness of God's Word is not meant to keep you away. It's meant to draw you close so you see your condition without Him. He extends an invitation for all to come near to Him; as we approach Him with sincere hearts, He forgives our shortcomings and makes us clean. The depth of God's Word is not meant to overwhelm you, but reveal to you little by little God's heart and His great love for you. Jesus speaks to us lovingly, and yes correctionally, through the pages of Scripture. He is found walking through every page, waiting to meet with you. That's where I found Him. More accurately, that's where He found me. His Words will transform you, turn you inside out and upside down (which was a good thing for me), affirm you, bring light in your darkness, and best of all, show you His great love for YOU. And you will be changed. And you will know you are loved. And you will know the difference between a lie and the truth. Hear His words today: "The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life" (John 6:63).

What can a word do? Maybe the question is: What can THE Word do? Oh, my friends, the Word can do wonders, in YOU! Are you willing to listen? If you've been listening to destructive words for too long, take that microphone away from the devil, or even from yourself--hand it to Jesus. Give Him your ear. You will never be the same.





*Gass, Bob, "Secure in God's Love." Posted October 4, 2012. Today's Word. http://www.bobgass.com/todaysword.php. (Accessed October 4, 2012.)