Welcome back Be the One family!
Pastor Steven here, I am so excited to go into the next part of our series on leadership, "The Power of Words" Free people are incredible influencers. They understand the battle, the enemy, and the traps that can derail our transformation. Receiving the picture of a loving father and rehearsing His word in our mind sets us up to really begin to unleash our gifts. One of the most important thoughts you could gather from this freedom class is You have been created by design and there is a reason for your existence. Believing this changes the words we speak over ourselves. When our words flow out of the father’s heart they are life giving, creative, directive, and healing. When our words flow out of the heart of the accuser, they are life stealing, destructive, confusing, and hurtful. We’ve all heard and received hurtful statements. We’ve even said them. Below are a few statements that hold incredible weight and power. As we read them out loud just consider the emotion that would come if these were being said toward you. What response would it produce?
Think about these statements:
I hate you.
You disgust me.
You make me sick.
Nobody cares about you.
or
I love you.
You’re important to me.
You look really nice today.
You are irreplaceable.
Each of these statements communicate the way one thinks and feels about something. It’s even possible that you’ve heard one or two of these phrases before (possibly not one of the uplifting ones.) As we read these it's clear there is great responsibility over the words we speak. Our mouth can produce unity or division and when our mouth is unguarded our tongue quickly becomes a sword that cuts people down rather than building them up.
One of the major reasons we want to live in freedom is we are to be the earthly representation of Jesus. For many non-believers we are the only Jesus some will ever meet. It’s imperative that our words don’t turn people away but instead they draw them in with love.
James 1:26 (ESV) 26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. Matthew 12:36 (NASB) But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it on the day of judgment.
Proverbs 18:20-21 (ESV)20 From the fruit of a man's mouth his stomach is satisfied; he is satisfied by the yield of his lips. 21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.
The Bible just told us that no matter how spiritual one thinks they are, if they do not discipline themselves to control their tongue what they believe is worthless. Why? The words we speak come out of the overflow of our heart. If our heart is corrupted, hurt, or wounded, our words will no longer be life giving and love filled.
Be the One family I just want to leave you with this: - Are your words life giving? - What words have I been speaking over myself lately? - Who do I need to speak life over? I can't wait for next week as we talk about 3 truths about how we speak.
Love ya, Pastor Steven Sexton