Life-giving Words
Hello lovely! I hope you are well and enjoying this incredible spring weather and warm sunshine. I sure am. I just love spring and all the beauty and grace it brings. It’s the end of March, and I honestly feel like I’m starting the new year right now. We moved in January and life has been so full. My goal was to start my new year rhythms in February but here I am in March and just now setting my intentions for the year and that is completely ok. There is so much grace for me and there’s an abundance of grace for you too, friend.
A question that I have carried with me for many years is one that has come to mind in this new year and season. Is this life-giving or life-stealing? This question often pierces my heart and urges me to pursue kindness and love in every area of my life.
Our words are powerful. They have the power to speak life or death. Proverbs 18:21 says that there is life and death in the power of the tongue! And if you are anything like me, I’m sure you have had moments where you spoke something that you do not even know where it came from. Matthew 12:34 says, “Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.” Woah. The words flowing or sometimes flying out of our mouths reflects the state of our heart. This leads us to look within and ask God to purify our heart and surrender to His deeper work of healing and wholeness. I am continually on this journey and in process, but it is a consistent surrender to His Holy ways.
I often place my hand over my heart and pray Psalm 51:10 over myself “Create in me a clean heart, O God” and He leads me to repentance. In my life, I noticed anger and bitterness coming to mind when I would pray this prayer. Ecclesiastes 7:9 says that “anger lodges in the heart of fools.” Lodges means, to make or become firmly fixed or embedded in a particular place. I definitely don’t want these things to stay in my heart or life. Whenever I ask God to purify my heart, He kindly reveals my sin and invites me to ask for forgiveness and His help to pursue holiness and freedom.
I think the question of whether something is life-giving or life-stealing also causes me to slow down and submit my mouth to the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 4:29-30 says, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” The reality that we can grieve the Holy Spirit through our words is gut-wrenching and eye-opening.
As I have become more aware of my words, I notice them more and feel an opportunity to choose life or death with my tongue. I find myself chatting with a friend, and about to say something but pause to ask myself and the Lord, “Is this life-giving or life-stealing?” I fail at this so often but through the strength of His Spirit, I can choose life instead of death, and so can you.
PRAY I encourage you to pray over your mouth. I will place my hand over my mouth and ask God to “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!” Psalm 141:3. I submit my mind and heart to the Holy Spirit. We need His strength to speak life and cannot do it without Him!
CALL OUT THE GOLD Call out the gold in people! Recently, I heard someone say that people are starving for encouragement. We have been so isolated, and as Proverbs 16:24 says, “A kind word is like honey, sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.”It can often feel awkward and uncomfortable to call out the gold in someone, but I can truly say that I never regret it! I think it is so powerful with strangers, but it is especially important to do with those closest to us. I love doing this with Daniel, especially in front of others! It can be so empowering to compliment and uplift your spouse in front of others. I have also been trying to do this with friends and family. It can be too easy to think a kind thought about someone in your life and then move on. Instead, I am purposely trying to shoot a text, call, or tell the person when I am with them the goodness I see in them. I encourage you to speak life instead of correction!
EVALUATE YOUR THOUGHTS I am becoming more and more aware of my thought-life. Are the thoughts in your mind mostly positive or negative? Are you speaking life to yourself? I believe that it can be easier to speak life to others than to yourself, but friend, your thoughts have so much power over you. For example, if you do something that is embarrassing, what is your first response? Is it to reprimand yourself and become self-critical? Me too. My counselor encourages me to be gentle, kind, and compassionate with myself. When a friend does something embarrassing, I am quick to encourage and affirm them with kindness, but I often fail to do this with myself. I challenge you to start recognizing your thought patterns and awake to the way you treat yourself. It is so difficult to be kind to ourselves, especially if we have patterns and habits of negativity and tearing ourselves down. Another way to start speaking life over yourself is through affirmations. I am a firm believer in speaking affirmations over myself and am desiring to grow in this area.
I also use this question, whether this is life-giving or life-stealing, regarding the things that fill my time and life. I so often commit to things that are absolutely life-stealing for me. I understand that there are some seasons and things that we have to do that are not life-giving, but there are so many things in our lives that are optional. I often assume I have to do something that is life-stealing, but when I take a moment to evaluate and ask myself about it, I recognize that I can actually say no.
My prayer for you: Lord, I thank you that you are the God of LIFE! You gave us life and you speak life into our very being. I pray that you would show us how to embrace your life-giving ways. Lord, purify our hearts and bring us into alignment with You, Holy Spirit.
So much love and grace to you! You’ve got this!