The Power of Words

Have you considered the power of words? Language is a remarkable thing. The ability to communicate, both in the spoken and written word is pretty amazing. I sit here with my laptop striking keys in an order that will produce words and you sit where ever you might be and read them. With some measure of cognitive ability, assuming I write in a coherent fashion, you will grasp what I intended to communicate. With our growing technology this is something that can happen almost instantly around the globe. Even with the multiple kinds of language we still find ways to communicate. It is a gift from God that we should not take lightly. We are warned of the power of words by James. Words may do great good or be the source of profound evil. We will touch on that truth and then make just a little comparison with the word's of power that God spoke. Something I am sure we all know, however, it is good to be reminded now and then just what the Scriptures have to tell us about those words.

James is concerned with how believers treat one another. He is not alone. Our Lord and Messiah came to the Father with the simple request that we might be one as He and the Father were one. See John 17 for the context and details. Words can either help that prayer become a reality or greatly damage its possibility. James writes, "Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell" (James 3:5-6). With the same mouth we bless God and curse men who are made in His likeness. James says these things ought not to be.Undisciplined words disqualify leaders, damage reputations and divide fellowships. However, they also bring healing and encouragement. Solomon writes, "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver"(Proverbs 25:11). Actually, Proverbs offer much counsel on the use of words. There are few of us who have escaped occasional words that fillet the soul and rend the heart. Rather, we are to be those who bring a healing balm to the lives of the wounded and broken hearted.

As remarkable and powerful as our words might be, they are not much compared to the words spoken by God. I have spent a bit of time in Genesis chapter one and it occurred to me that Isaiah was more than right when he said, "So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper for which I sent it" (Isaiah 55:11). It is a powerful statement, however if you want to add some real strength to it look out your window. God spoke and everything you see came into being. Our words do not come close to that kind of creative power. John 1:1 elaborates and lets us know it was Messiah, God's Son who was the creative agent. Colossians 1:16-17 agrees and goes on to say Messiah holds it all together, " all things were created by him, and for him, and he is before all things, and by him all things consist." Hebrews explains that it is by His word that this is so, "Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power" (Hebrews 1:3). God spoke and everything came into being and continues by His powerful word.

There was a time when my "prosperity" brothers tried to claim that we as believers have the same power, the power to speak health, wealth, and prosperity into our own personal existence. They found a remarkable difference between the Greek word, logos, and another Greek word, rhēma, logos is the far more common word and is most know in John 1 where the Word is a reference to Messiah, God's Son. rhema is said to be the relational word and the spoken word while logos was the written word, sort of. The problem is that the New Testament writers used them interchangeably as does other Greek literature. They are synonyms. My point is not to discuss the merits of these theological positions but to point out that no one has ever spoken a giant redwood into assistance or even and a dandelion for that matter. God's spoken words are beyond comparison just as the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us has no comparison either.

The next time you feel a bit out of control and overwhelmed take a look around yourself and remember all that is, even the dirt you stand on, came into being by God simply speaking and it was so. He also is holding it all together. As the old song goes, "He's got the whole world in His hands." Then it might help to get the focus off of yourself and go deliver some encouraging and uplifting words to someone else. I would not be surprised if it did you both.