In today’s society we suffer from overcommunication. Just because they tell me that I, as a woman, have to get out 25,000 words a day, doesn’t mean I should. 

This generation is a generation of TMI = Too much information! 

We talk too much to too many people, and emotionally vomit, get it all out, on the internet in blogs and other public pages. We vent our frustrations, our dissatisfaction, our disappointments, our experiences, etc. The good, the bad and the ugly. If it’s happened to us, it’s shared everywhere possible. Too much talking, very little thinking and not nearly enough listening. 

Words have lost their meaning over time, “My word is my bond” means nothing these days. We waste our words without a thought to say, “get over it, they’re just words!” It is a lie from the enemy you’ve believed. You’ve fallen for his trap to say that words hold no power. Take back what he’s stolen by beginning to choose your words wisely, let’s learn why… 

Using the main Scripture, ‘Death and life are in the power of the tongue and they that love it will eat its fruit’ Prov. 18:21 which when you break it down in Hebrew says… ‘death and life are at the hand of man through his tongue because of the words he chooses’.  

The Message puts it this way, “Words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit—you choose”.

Power = “Yad” which means, ‘strength’, ‘hand of man’

Fruit = “Per-e” meaning result ‘of actions’, the reward. The root word is “Parah” which is a verb, an action word; ‘to bear fruit,’ ‘grow,’ ‘bring forth’, ‘increase,’ ‘to create’. Parah is the same word used in Genesis 1:28, “be fruitful and multiply”. Also the same word, “Parah,” used in Psalm 105:24, “and he increased his people; and made them stronger than their enemies.”, etc.

In Matthew 12:36-37 Jesus says that on the day of judgment we’ll give an account for every idle word and through those words we’ll be justified or condemned. I used to think how impossible this Scripture verse sounds, how can one keep track of all their words? How fair is that?  But it doesn’t say ALL, it says every IDLE word.

Idle = “Argos” and it means, ‘lazy,’ ‘barren,’ ‘fruitless’ (involving blameworthiness). It means that in the end, when we come before the Lord, we will have to give an account for every word we speak that we did not put thought into, words that do not bear fruit or bring increase or create.

God puts that much emphases on the words we speak. Speaking for the sake of speaking… doesn’t sound so good after all. There is to be purpose in our words, they are tremendously important, powerful and significant. We are to be intentional in this life with all that we do and all that we say.

We shouldn’t downplay the actual power that our words have in the spiritual realm. When we do, we unwittingly emasculate Christianity of much of its power.

If our theology (study of God’s Word) has not equipped us to do the works of God just as Jesus did, then our theology must change, it is defective. Yes, we are supposed to model our lives on Jesus, the word “Christian” does actually mean “Christlike”. But not only in character and attitude, which “the church” (generalizing) is good at preaching these days but also in divine power. Jesus said, “You shall receive power after the Holy Spirit comes upon you” and “… he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father” (John 14:12).

In doing some research on “positive words” all I came across was some negative press about the Word Faith groups and yet when I did a search on “positive thoughts” all sorts of interesting information came up. I read some amazing statistics from clinic trials done in the last few years at the Mayo Clinic. AMAZING results on just thinking positive thoughts, having a positive expectation.

“Expectations are the breeding ground of miracles” proven by worldy clinical trials!!

Here’s one regarding pain. “We found that expectations have a surprisingly big effect on pain. Positive expectations produced about a 28 percent decrease in pain ratings – equal to a shot of morphine,” Tetsuo Koyama, M.D., Ph.D. 

With regards to “happy people”; Martin Seligman PhD., “Happy people, furthermore have better health habits, lower blood pressure, and feistier immune systems than less happy people. When you combine all this with Aspinwall’s findings that happy people seek out and absorb more health risk information, it adds up to an unambiguous picture of happiness as a prolonger of life and improver of health”.

Researchers continue to explore the effects of positive thinking and optimism on health. Health benefits that positive thinking may provide include:

*Increased life span

*Lower rates of depression

*Lower levels of distress

*Greater resistance to the common cold

*Better psychological and physical well-being

*Reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease

*Better coping skills during hardships and times of stress

The world embraces Philippians 4:8 and has incredible, documented increase in physical and emotional results. It’s not a surprise to me that it works!! God says our thoughts are important, to be careful with them, to take them captive quickly, but He says that our words have real creative power and are even more important than our thoughts, have greater impact than mere thoughts alone. The devil can’t read our minds or hear our thoughts, he’s not omnipresent – he’s not everywhere all the time like God is, but he does have ears to hear… and things that are spoken do get back to him.

So what we should do with our tongue? Do like David did. In the midst of his trials and terrible circumstances, he praised God. In Psalm 35:28 he said, “… my tongue will speak of your righteousness and of your praise all day long”. If you read up towards verse 1 you’ll get a glimpse of what he was going through at the time, it wasn’t good that’s for sure. But he didn’t focus on that. He looked up to God and used his words to bring glory and honour to God. In doing so, David encouraged himself in the Lord in the midst of his circumstances. He was a man after God’s own heart.

Your life is a product of the words you hear and speak. Either they’re negative or positive, they will bring death or life. 

To bring a turnaround, a change, to bring life to what our situation is we need to maintain an attitude of gratitude, thankfulness, patience and faith and God will surely bless. In thought, word and action.

The truth is, the more you say something, the more you will believe it (negative or positive). And the more you believe it, the more you will say it.  

Spend some time examining the words coming out of your mouth. “For out of the heart the mouth speaks”, Luke 6:45. It’s easy to see what your heart is full of in tough times or moments of crisis or irritation, what is inside will come out (like a tube of toothpaste when squeezed). You’ll know quickly on the areas God wants you to work on. I know it’s like trying to un-pickle a pickle but it is possible with God!!  

Instead of complaining and griping (like the Israelites) find areas to compliment and encourage. Use your words the same way Jesus would. Focus on the positive and not the negative, become an optimist and not a pessimist. 

Use your tongue – filled with God’s Words (found in Scripture) – to bring life to a situation. You will benefit spiritually, emotionally and physically. You will experience the same power/authority as Jesus did, you will experience the same victories!!