Your Words Matter

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. — Genesis 1:1-3 ESV

If we go back to the book of Genesis, where the world began, we see that God started it all with words. He spoke, and things came into being. Light. Land. Lizards. All with a word. And we are made in His image.

God was brave enough to make you, brave enough to make me, brave enough to make humans who would all break His heart.

Proverbs 18:21 tells us that our tongues have the power of life and death.

I see that in my life. I see that in my friendships. I see that in the memories of past things said to me.

If there are seeds of courage living in all of us, waiting to bloom, words are the sun and the water that cheer on those seeds to their fullness.

One spring a few years ago, I pressured about ten of my girlfriends to buy a month’s membership to a boot camp. We were going to get fit before the summer if it killed us.

(To be noted — it almost killed me.)

It was no regular boot camp. It was a boot camp outside at 5:00 a.m. about twenty minutes from our neighborhood. So each of us had to wake up in the early 4:00s and then go exercise before the sun was even up.

As the month went on, the teacher realized a couple of things about me:

1. I did not enjoy being there, and
2. I am the class clown almost always.

So in typical teacher-versus–class clown behavior, she started putting me at the front of the line or calling on me to lead the stretches or staring at me all too often. I hated it. As much as I love being the center of attention, I do not prefer it when I’m exercising. Leave me alone and let me do my forty squats in peace, lady.

On one of the last days of boot camp, we had to complete an obstacle course. As was the case every day, I was the last person to finish. The end of the course was a sprint around cones while holding a weighted ball. I began, and the teacher ran beside me, absolutely screaming in my ears.

You can do this, Annie! Don’t quit now. You are so close! You wouldn’t have made it this far a few days ago! Finish strong!

As much as I hate to admit this, it worked. Her words in my ear gave me the push I needed to complete the course, get in my car, and never go back to boot camp again.

(Just kidding. I went back for the last two days.)

My point is, words matter. God wants you to use your words to encourage and speak life. Ask Him for the grace to do so, and look for opportunities to be brave, speaking truth and love into a broken world.

Be Brave: Who can you encourage today? Who needs to know that you are cheering for them? Do it!

Excerpted with permission from 100 Days to Brave by Annie F. Downs, copyright Annie F. Downs.

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Your Turn

The tongue has the power of life and death (Proverbs 18:21). What we do with our words is that serious! Do you want to breathe life into someone or knock the life out of them? Isn’t that a profound thought? Who can you encourage today? Come share with us on our blog. We want to hear from you! ~ Devotionals Daily