Words Matter.

Words are no joke.

God created the world by speaking His words and left us His word to communicate with us. He also tells us that "the simple moral fact is that words kill" (Matthew 5 MSG).

Words kill.

To me, that's a scary statement because there are many times where I am much too free with my words. OR on the flip side, there are times where I don't speak the words I should, words that could be life-giving to situations or individuals and it is my assertion that while words can kill, unspoken words can also kill. What we say matters because we are formed by the dialogue we engage in.

We are Formed by Dialogue

"Adult dialogue in particular can be edifying. When two persons meet together, each may know things the other does not and each may see things about the other that the other does not. So if they love each other, dialogue between them inevitably leads to enrichment and building up of each other.....Moreover, human image-bearing is especially realized in dialogue with the living God, who is speaking to us one way or another through Scripture (most clearly), through the creation, and through our dialogue with others" (Johnson, 2007, 14-15).

Human image-bearing is realized through dialogue with God and sometimes He uses us and our dialogue with others in the realization process. Therefore, as it says in 1 Thessalonians 5:11, we are to "encourage one another and build each other up, just as you are doing."

Words Matter

Life and death are in the power of the tongue. I understand that truth and as someone who has been given abundant life through Jesus, I want my words to be words of life and this influences my dialogue. Speaking life and encouragement are close to my heart and while there are many moments where I fail at this, it is something that I am intentional about in my relationships. I want people to know that someone is proud of them, that someone thinks they are great, that they are loved, that someone is praying for them, that they look nice, that someone is thankful for them, and that someone is rooting for them from their corner. So I tell them and I make sure that I only tell them things that I mean because one of my biggest frustrations is empty words said for the speaker's own benefit, but that could be another whole blog in it of itself.

Speaking those kinds of truths over people matter because we are formed by dialogue. By doing this, we are showing Life in a world that is desperate for it and I know that this matters because often times when I am speaking truth to someone, I hear the enemy's voice the loudest.

You are annoying. You told them that last week. They don't think you mean it. Encouraging words to them from you have lost all meaning. They don't care what YOU have to say. Why would your thoughts towards them matter? All your words are doing is bothering them. You should just shut up.

So sometimes I do. I shut up and I don't speak the life that I could have spoken. I allow death to keep its ground- Leaving the person who was feeling defeated, feeling defeated. The one who thinks they are all alone, thinking they are all alone. The one who feels unnoticed, feeling unnoticed. And while I am under no impression that my words can change those things apart from Jesus, I do believe that Christ in me is the hope of glory and that life-giving words push back some of the darkness. Shutting up doesn't. Unspoken words can also kill.

This is a hard post to write because the past month I've been listening to a lot of dialogue. And the dialogue that I've been listening to sounds a lot like what the enemy wants me to believe. He wants me to think that my words don't matter because I don't matter and that when I encourage others all I am is a bother. And there have been moments throughout the month where I have believed that. There have been moments where I have told myself that I just won't say certain things to people for awhile and maybe then it will mean something to them. There have been words said that have been met by silence and in the silence, satan shouts "I told you so" and I've believed it.

But there have also been moments in the past month where people have said "I'm proud of you", "I'm praying for you", "You are loved", "I am thankful for you", and "I think you're great." And I know how those moments made me feel and how life-giving those words were and how thankful I am that those people did not shut up.

Words matter. Whether they are valued or not, they matter. Whether I'm seen as a bother or not, they matter. Whether I've said it 100 times or not, they matter. Whether I'm annoying or not, they matter. We are shaped by our dialogue.

God communicates to us and others through dialogue. Dialogue is made up of words. Your words, or lack of words, matter.

Speak life.