Words Have Power

    

   Have you ever heard the saying, "your words have power"? This is a phrase that I've become very familiar with over the past year. If you read my past blog, titled "God's Peace", then you know that I've been working on a project about speaking kind words this past year in my school. You might think there are so many other serious issues we could try to prevent like depression, suicide, or drug or alcohol addictions, but you see, that's just the thing, we ARE helping prevent those issues.

   Proverbs 18:21 says:

 "The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit."

   Whether you realize it or not, the words that come from our mouths are the roots or beginnings of most problems. Our words literally have POWER! Still don't believe me? Well if our words have no power then what's the point of even praying? Our words don't have any weight or meaning. They're just a shout into the void. Right?

Not Right.

    Every word we say makes a difference in someone's life. Even if it's just ours. That's why when you're sick or dealing with depression, hopelessness, pride, feeling bound by sin, loneliness, or whatever it is you're going through, even if you just need more patience or kindness, you go look up verses about those things and speak them over yourself. At first you might feel like this is such a stupid idea. It's not. I promise you. Speaking words of life over yourself will produce fruit in your life.

Proverbs 15:4 says:

"A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit."

    I'll give you a few examples. So if you're dealing with depression, here's some verses you can pray over yourself:

"Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God." Psalm 42:11

"For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O LORD, from my youth." Psalm 71:5

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope." Romans 15:13

   Turn these verses into your own personal prayers. Use a topical concordance to look up the specific verses you need. I encourage you to write them down. The verses that you find aren't just for yourself. You can use the things you learn from praying over yourself to pray for others.

    So now I've told you how to speak life into your own life, but I want you to also speak into others lives. Make it a daily habit to give every person you meet at least one compliment or word of encouragement. You have no idea how much the words that seem simple to you, mean a world of things to that other person.

   We live in a society that is so focused on our own success and desires, that we've stopped taking the time to use our words to build relationships that edify our souls, we've stopped asking people "How are you?" and wanting to really know the answer. There's something really wrong with that! We live so much inside of our phones and social media that we've stopped connecting through the spoken word. We text instead of just picking up the phone and having a quality conversation, and what's even worse is that we've forgotten how. The things I'm saying to you might not resonate at all, and that's ok. Hopefully that's because you haven't been sucked into the modern day, hermit disease, like the rest of us.

   Now, listen, I'm not writing this to condemn any of you. I'm in the same boat as the rest of you. I'm writing this because I want to inspire you. Inspire you to get up from your worn down, computer chair, and step out into the beautiful world, and go to Starbucks and have a heart to heart with that person you haven't talked to in forever. Only you know who that person is. Maybe it's someone who always looks upset and needs some cheering up, or that person you've been friends with since the womb, or that person that you have trouble getting along with, or maybe it's that family member you wanted to forget existed, whoever it is, stop what you're doing. Stop right now! Call them and connect. Use your empowered words to give the gift of life to someone else, whether it's in the form of encouragement, reconciliation, repentance, or just connecting at a deep level. Don't be satisfied with what the world tries to pass off as good forms of communication. They definitely have their pros, but if they're our only form of communication then they're most certainly more of a con.

   I hope this has been encouraging to you. If you have any questions, please contact me! I would love to talk with you! Thank you for reading this and allowing me to share my heart with you! Please share my blog with friends and family! I'd greatly appreciate it!

                                                                                                     Love,

                                                                                                         Jessie Childs