September 23: The Power of a Word

Words are powerful. They truly do have the power to build or destroy, to encourage or tear down. Words move, inspire, challenge, commit, validate, defend, or destroy people. Words can give flight to a dream, provide someone with another ounce of energy to keep going, or bring a life to a crashing hault with the utterance of a dark secret. One small word can carry a great depth of meaning and emotion:

Freedom

Death

Survivor

Love

War

Jesus

One small word can create action, even a chain reaction. For example, your 6 year old son tells the neighbor girl, who you have yet to meet, that he has a gun. He doesn't think to specify that it's a NERF gun. Again, the power of ONE word. The girl tells her mom, as she should have, and mom calls the police. Because, again, you have not even met them yet. They don't know that you aren't crazy, psycho killers. Although after that episode, I'm sure they'll have their doubts. The police come and knock on your door on an otherwise lovely Sunday afternoon and want to know why your son is threatening to shoot the neighbor girl with a gun. You and Daddy have more then one word with him about all that.

One small word can be powerful enough to change a life. I don't know that I think about that when I let words just fall out of my mouth each day. It's so easy to speak without thinking, especially when I'm angry. It's also easy to jabber on about worthless things. Scientists say that the average woman uses 20,000 words each day, which is 13,000 more then your average man. The passage from Luke 12:35-48 comes to mind: "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." Could this be applied to our words, especially as women? I think so.

God has given us a finite word quota each day: am I using them wisely? Am I using them to build up, to encourage, to motivate, to love and validate? To give flight to dreams, to create leaders and world changers, to build up and inspire, to communicate authentic love and appreciation? To help you be the very best possible version of YOU, the way God intended you to be, this side of heaven?

That's quite the challenge for all of us, and it should be. Words are important. They're life-changers. How will you use yours today?



Has your life been impacted or changed by the words of another?