In the beginning was the Word. The Word (Jesus) was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the Light of all mankind. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness (sin) has not overcome the Light. Jesus, who said, “I am the Light of the world,” is the incarnate Word. Therefore, every scriptural Word that we speak has power over the enemy, because the Word is alive and active (John 1:1-5; John 8:12).
Recently, I felt God’s urging to examine the words I speak, because life and death are in the power of the tongue. Words can bring hope or despair; they can build up or tear down; they can encourage or discourage; and they can create faith or generate unbelief. Therefore, we are all called to examine our hearts and ask what our mouths are confessing, and what are we speaking about ourselves, others, and our loved ones? (Proverbs 18:21).
God’s Words have purpose and are proof of His Spirit, His power, character, and His love for mankind. He created all things with His spoken word, except for one. God said to His Son, “Let Us make mankind in Our image, in Our likeness.” God wanted a personal, hands-on relationship with mankind, so, with His hands, He lovingly created, shaped and formed man of the dust of the ground and then breathed into his nostrils the breath of life to become a living, human being. (Genesis 1:26; 2:7; Proverbs 6:16-19).
God is very intentional with all that He does and speaks. Every word that comes forth from His mouth holds life and power. That is why it is so important that the words we speak and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable to God. We should daily ask Him to set a guard over our mouths and keep watch over the door of our lips, because too much talk leads to sin. King David understood the importance of his words when he said, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer” (Psalm 19:14 NASB: Psalm 141:3; Proverbs 10:19).
The heart of the godly thinks carefully before speaking and their mouth gives wise counsel. For wise words bring many benefits, but a reckless word pierces like a sword. The wise guard their mouth to preserve their life; the unwise say too much and come to ruin (Proverbs 15:28; 10:31; 12:18; 12:14; 13:3). The Apostle Paul said, “Do not let any unwholesome (unhealthy, poisonous, harmful, injurious, detrimental, destructive, damaging) talk come from your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Ephesians 4:29 NIV).
The words that we speak about ourselves and about others have eternal consequences. Words have the potential to destroy our own spirit as well as the spirit of another. Words have power to inflict deep wounds or to soothe and heal. Gracious words are sweet to the soul and healing to the bones; gentle words turn away wrath and are a tree of life. Words are so important that God tells us that “for every idle (pointless) word [we] speak, [we] will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by [our] words [we] will be justified, and by [our] words [we] will be condemned.” That scripture puts a godly fear in my heart to consider every thought before it becomes a spoken word (Proverbs 15:1-4; Matthew 12:36-37).
A problem that I had and many people have is taking ownership of sickness and disease with our words: MY cancer, MY high blood pressure, MY heart disease, MY poor health, etc. God does not want us to own sickness, because it is an uninvited invader. People will also verbally berate themselves with dishonoring and negative self-talk. To counter these negative confessions, we should be speaking positive, biblical statements of truth:
Negative: “My” (naming the medical issue). POSITIVE: “This (disease, sickness, affliction) is not mine to own! Therefore, I will not let my heart be troubled, because God sent His Word and healed and delivered me from destruction. With man this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible, and all things work together for good. So, I will cooperate with medical and all help provided, believing that God will do the rest. For it is by Jesus stripes, I am healed” (Jeremiah 29:11; John 14:1; Psalms 107:20; Matthew 19:26; Isaiah 53:5).
Negative: “I can’t seem to get ahead.” POSITIVE: “I reject that thought, because God’s Word promises that He will meet all my needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).
Negative: “I will never be able to do this.” POSITIVE: “No, I reject that thought, because ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, and in all these things, I am more than a conqueror through Him who loves me” (Philippians 4:13; Romans 8:37).
Negative: “I am so afraid of…” POSITIVE: “No, I will not fear, because God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).
Negative: “What a dummy. I can’t do anything right.” POSITIVE: “I cast that thought down. I am created in the image of God and have the mind of Christ” (Genesis 1:27; I Corinthians 2:16).
Negative: “God will never answer my prayer.” POSITIVE: “No! God’s Word says, ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ He will answer because His eyes are on the righteous and His ears are attentive to my prayer” (1 Peter 3:12).
The battlefield is in the mind, which is Satan’s playground—if we allow him in. We must remember that all negative thoughts are generated from the enemy. But “all Scripture is God-breathed.” For that reason, we should always be intentional in speaking the restorative, delivering Word of God that has all power to countermand every fearful, negative thought, and dispel Satan’s lies.
It is imperative to daily protect our thought life with God’s Word, because thoughts generate the words we speak, and what we speak reveals what the heart contains. Is our heart full of fear and doubt, or does it contain hope, trust, and faith? Our thought life will give us the answer. Thus, whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy—we are to think on those things. (2 Timothy 3:16; Philippians 4:8; Matthew 12:34)
PRAYER: FATHER, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight. Help me to daily build my faith by guarding my thought and mouth, so that I think and speak what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.