Have a Potato Chip?

(photo from lifereallymatters.com)

I know there were several points our pastor made this morning that I totally planned on chewing on here in today’s blog post, but as I look at my notes, nothing is jumping out at me screaming, “Me! Me! Pick me!” He did mention Romans 4:17, I noted that – but he went in a little different direction than I’m pondering right now.

“…God creates new things out of nothing.” – the last few words of Romans 4:17 (NLT) More familiar might be the King James Version, “…[He] calleth those things which be not as though they were.”

In my own life, I’ve been observing the power of my words and noticing more carefully the words that others choose to use. Why, I ask myself, do I continue to spew out negative words when I’ve already recognized the damage they do, and “forget” my positive words, knowing full well they bring life and good?

I can’t expect anyone around me to do what I resist. They may be much better at watching the words they choose to use, but, realistically, I can’t expect it of them; especially when those around me are those for whom I should be setting a good example.

If surprised by the question, “Do you choose the words you use?” I’d quickly answer yes. But, honestly, I tend to blurt out words before thinking sometimes. Okay, let’s face it, I do it a lot.

So, how can I expect my life to go the direction I want it to go if I’m not willing to put in the effort to plan and prepare for it? Any diet program will tell you that you won’t be successful with weight loss if you don’t plan what you’re going to eat. Eating whatever is convenient won’t help your battle if what is convenient is junk food. Purposely and thoughtfully making sure that what’s convenient is something that’s also on your diet plan is the only way to make that diet work. When junk food is available, it’s far too tempting to resist, even when we know better.

I’m pondering the point that it’s exactly the same with the words we choose to express our lives.

If I continue to belittle myself or criticize the state I’m in, knowing that there is power in my words, I’m bringing on my own troubles. Even if I don’t realize how much power is in my words, they’re still powerful; just like donuts will always be fattening, even if I don’t realize it. Laws and principles are there, whether we acknowledge them or not.

Made in God’s image, our words can be just as creative as His – calling things to be, which were not; creating new things out of nothing. I know I’ve written on this before, but my point to ponder today is why, once we know this law, or principle, we still slack in exercising it to our advantage.

How can it be merely laziness, since it requires no more effort to use good, positive, life-giving words than it does to use words that lead to lack, destruction and death? I guess if I want to relate back to the diet example, it could be for the same reason we continue to stock junk foods in our cupboards: we secretly want it, even while knowing it’s poison.

Perhaps it all boils down to discipline……..and how badly we want something?

(photo from wegrowmedia.com)

Throwing Stones

(photo from atlantayogamovement.org)

When things don’t make sense, it’s sometimes hard not to come up with a billion or two critical words to sum up the situation; for those of us on the more verbose end of the spectrum. You pithy people can probably sum things up in a brief negative sentence.

But, why are we so quick to jump into the deep end of negativity, simply because something doesn’t make sense to us? Does everything have to make sense to us? Is it not remotely possible that God speaks differently to others than He speaks to us? What is it about the human mind that makes us so quick to assume, and so often to assume incorrectly?

Many of us have been saturated with a lifetime of criticism, words that flew off the offenders lips so quickly, they couldn’t possibly have had time to analyze what they were saying or whether the words were necessary or even accurate. There will always be something critical to say about most every situation, if you want to live that way. Biting our tongues can be a bloody battle, especially if your tongue is as unruly as mine can be.

Remember when you were young and your mother said, repeatedly, “If you can’t find something nice to say, don’t say anything at all”? She didn’t make that up on her own; all of our mothers said it. And their advice, unsolicited though it may have been, will probably serve us well in most situations.

If we take a few seconds to run those words by our Father before we let them slither between our lips, we can save a lot of broken hearts and spirits and do far more good in the world around us, than if we selfishly insist on blurting out all the negative thoughts that pass through our brains. We can raise confident, happy children and turn the hearts of the bitter people on our path in a new direction. We can more openly talk to our friends and we can contribute solutions to the problems around us, rather than merely heap fuel onto the already blazing piles of trouble that appear at every turn.

Before we can speak, we first think. But, too often, we don’t give the thought process enough micro-seconds of time to function, so it can protect the speech process from harmful actions. Or am I the only one guilty of this?

Do you have any suggestions for those of us who engage our mouths before, or without engaging our brains? Most of us are guilty of this, whether we recognize it or not. Maybe we don’t stick around long enough to see the hurt in the eyes of those we offend, but whether we acknowledge the wounds or not – they’re there. We can create wounds even when the target of our negativity isn’t within earshot.

Our tongues are powerful, indeed. Our words can be as deadly as a car with a drunk driver behind the wheel. Sometimes harsh words might be appropriate, but those harsh worlds should be well-considered before they’re spoken, too.

Often we’re critical for no good reason, other times we’re critical because we just don’t understand what we’re criticizing.

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ’ and having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.” – 2 Corinthians 10:3-6 KJV

First, look for the good.

The Words of My Mouth

I heard this morning that faith is released through your mouth. Makes sense. Reportedly, the Bible says more about what you say as opposed to what you think. I imagine that’s because we tend to speak what we believe. We must believe a few things we don’t really realize we think about.

One of the first things our common enemy does is try to mess with our confession. Instead of talking about the good in our lives, we often wind up murmuring and complaining. Without some grace, the ground might have already opened up and swallowed us alive!

Sometimes we feel hard-pressed to find things to rejoice about, until we sit and take a moment to think about it. But even then, the rejoicing is often slow in coming. But the complaining? Most of us find it quite easy to complain.

I’ve had a terrific day with my husband today – no agenda, just enjoying each other’s company. But still, my mouth finds a way to complain about one thing or another.

Praise and worship involve sacrifice. Something’s gotta die. Clearly I need to sacrifice the pettiness that drives to complain when so much of my life is praiseworthy.

Not only will that negativity be absent from my days, but it will be replaced with the strength that comes from joy. Plus, my friends will find it a whole lot easier to chat with me!

Another place I see myself making negative confessions is when I find myself singing along to the radio or with others singing a song that isn’t really what I profess to believe. There’s a country song with a catchy tune that declares: “love don’t live here anymore.” Now why in the world would I want to come into agreement with that? Sure, some may say that I’m not necessarily agreeing that the song is true in my life, but what is my spirit picking up? How long will it be before love stops living here? Though that may sound superstitious – it’s not. We are what we think – and we think what we pour into our souls.

Just a few points to ponder on when we’re asking why things aren’t going like we want them to in our lives. What confessions come out of our mouth when we’re not really watching for them?

Do you have any favorite scriptures about our words?

Psalm 19:14 “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.”

Romans 10: 8-10 “But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”