The Wonder of Words

As a family we have been reading Dinner Table Devotions.

• What a great answer to prayer this book has been to me.
• I had prayed we'd do devotions at least once a week as a family by end of 2019... and then daily by 2023. Haha!
• How the Lord grants you what you need in his good time.
• This book enables us to build the habit of  taking 1 Biblical idea each day of the year and chewing on it over dinner.

Recently, we were chewing on the theme of 

words

Words have power.
God spoke the world into being.
Words build up.
Words tear down.
Words connect people and ideas.
Words empower action.

We had a great conversation about the words we tell ourselves about who we are, e.g. examples from our home:

"I'm stupid."  vs. "that was a stupid thing to do.""you always...(do this to me)" vs "when you... (this is the impact on me)"

In many ways, God creates realities for us by the way he speaks things into being.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

Genesis 1:3 (ESV) 

By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

Hebrews 11:3 (ESV) 

What can happen if we were to take hold of this great power granted to us?

 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.

James 3:4 (ESV) 

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It's been amazing to see this connection with something  discussed in our work training course - "Courageous Conversations". We reflected on this idea from Rick Hanson, that in most people's experiences, the downer from every negative comment can outweigh the uplift from over FIVE positive comments.

the brain is like Velcro for negative experiences, but Teflon for positive ones. 

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I spoke something harsh to a friend yesterday. 
I regretted saying it as soon as I did. 
But it was in my heart. It was how I felt - as prejudiced and unhelpful as that thought was. 

How many forests can we set ablaze with our words?