“For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Matt 12:37 NAS

Words are powerful. By them, worlds were created: the stars in the heavens, the fish in the sea, the beasts in the fields, and, of course, man. Created by the word God spoke in the beginning; man was NOT the same as the other created beings. He was made in the image of the Creator and he carried His creative spark, as well as the Father’s authority. Our words then, can also create worlds.

I have spoken on this subject before, and indeed, it is never far from my mind. As a young woman, I was quickly aware of how powerful my words and the words of others around me were. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and there were times when I beheld people speaking ‘death’ to others. Not literally, but besmirching their character, their faith, their person. There are many ways to die.

I also observed those who purposefully spoke life over those around them. They carried a presence that I have now come to know as the Father’s heart. Their words imparted hope to the hearer, calling us to our destiny. Words of love, affection and comfort.

Jesus said, ‘Out of the abundance of his heart, man speaks.’ We must take great care of what we permit ourselves to meditate upon. What we give our heart and mind to inevitably will find its way out of our mouths and into our conversations, to either uplift and edify, or infect and poison. Our words are under our control, of this I am certain. The more we do not give ourselves permission to release negative, condemning and unkind words into the atmosphere or into our circle of relationships, the more we become those who build worlds. And the Kingdom.

Slander and gossip are likened in the scripture to wood that is thrown upon an already hotly burning fire. ‘Adding fuel to the fire,’ as the adage goes. This world is already burning in hot anger and resentment. Races and religions, genders and political ideologies are the hot coals the enemy is throwing on the fire that at times feels as if it will burn out of control and take us all with it.

How then, shall we live? The words of the church need to be the anti-venom to the poison that the enemy is injecting into this lost and troubled world. Jesus said, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall see God.’ Eph. 4:29 says, ‘Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to the hearer.’

Beloved. It is time for us to get a hold of our hearts, and let our passions burn with only One Love: Jesus, the Prince of Peace. It is His peace we carry. It is His peace this world needs.

~ Debbie Ecker