Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits. – Proverbs 18:21 ESV

Steps on Your Journey to Discover How God Sees You

  • What do the following verses say about the power of our words? Proverbs 15:1, 4 (NIV): “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. … The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.” Luke 6:45 (NIV): “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” See also Matthew 12:37 and Ephesians 4:15, 25.
  • In Genesis 27, Jacob stole his brother’s blessing, by deceiving his father, Isaac. When Isaac realized he had blessed Jacob instead of Esau, he said something I don’t fully understand. When Esau asked his father to give him the blessing, Isaac said, “I blessed him—and indeed he will be blessed!” (verse 33, NIV). The blessing he had spoken over Jacob could not be taken back. If you look at Jacob’s life, what his father said came true. Think about the power of Isaac’s words and blessing.
  • We need to pay attention to what we say. Rather than speaking defeat, we need to speak the truth of God’s Word over our lives and over those around us. When we speak the negative, it usually comes about. For example, if I say over and over, “I’m so tired,” I become more and more tired. When I have felt exhausted in the past, I tested this truth, saying, “I’m getting stronger all the time.” Guess what! I began to feel better. This is not to say that when you feel exhausted, you should not rest.
  • What are you saying to yourself and others? Are you speaking truth from the Word, or are you speaking negative, defeating words from the enemy? What might you need to change in how you talk?

A Prayer for You

Dear Lord, forgive me for speaking negativity into my own life or into those around me. Help me to recognize the power my words have. Show me what I’m saying that might be hurting me or others.

Excerpted from The Surprising Joy of Discovering How God Sees You by Gaylyn Williams.