The Power of Words

Have you ever imagined the power that words have? Words are wonderful things. As babies, our parents coach us and coax us hoping to hear our first words. I find it humorous that parents spend the first few years of a child's life teaching them how to speak, and then the next several years of the child's life trying to get them to be quiet!

Then there's the joy of seeing a child finally grasp the concept of reading. I can still remember the frustration I felt as a five and six year old girl, sitting with my grandmother sounding out the words to the simple readers assigned to me. Then one day the confusion of letters and sounds made sense, and I began to read words, and sentences, and then paragraphs and books!

Books opened a world to me I'd never before known, and the spoken word was no different for me. My family could testify I was seldom caught without SOMETHING to say! Then there came the day that I realized not only could I read what others had written, but I could write for others to read!

My love for words began when I was young, but it has never diminished. When I think of the power that words can have I'm amazed.

Think of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution! Pieces of paper with words...but what powerful words! Words that have shaped the country we live in the freedoms we hold dear.

When I think of the power of words I think of all the classics of literature that have survived for hundreds of years.

I think of the power words have when put to music. Handel's Messiah comes to mind, as do many great old hymns.

Words can be fun, such as jokes, riddles, and rhyming words. I love to play with words and find those that sound alike. (I write poetry, of course I like rhyming words!)

Words can have a bad power too. Just as the words of the Constitution give us words of liberty, words can also bring about bondage.

Just as the beautiful words of some works of literature can inspire, works by the likes of Adolf Hitler can corrupt.

Words of great classical music and hymns of the church can bring joy and worship for God while the words from rock and pop encourage demonic activities and glorify the singer.

Just as words can be fun, they can be hurtful. Children, if not taught differently, can tease mercilessly those who are different than they.

Parents can encourage their children with words, and teach them truth through words, or they can criticize and harm with words.

How many times have I heard it said that communication is important to a good marriage. Lack of communication and words of criticism or sarcasm can ruin one.

Words of love and kindness, and at times, needed rebuke can build a friendship. Words of gossip and lying can destroy it.

Politicians, storytellers, writers, journalists, teachers, and preachers will find that the words they use have power behind them.

I've read many books and articles about many different things. I've known some great teachers, and wonderful preachers. I keep a journal, write on this blog, write poems, and I have even published two books, and continue to write, but if I spent the rest of my life writing and talking I could never, ever even began to capture the love of God or all that He is.

Frederic Lehman said it best in his hymn, "The Love of God." It is said that the third stanza was written on the wall of an insane asylum by one of the patients.

"Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above,
Would drain the ocean dry.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky."

It seems to me that the person who wrote that had more sense than the average person today.

Words bring to life knowledge, and there can be no greater knowledge than that of God's love. And God Himself.

The greatest book ever written is the Bible. It is after all, the Word of God. What greater word could there be than that which comes from our Creator? That blessed Book tells me how we go here, and what our purpose is.

That Book teaches me how to treat others, and it teaches me about freedom in Christ.

The most important thing is that it teaches me about Jesus Christ, who was virgin born, lived sinlessly, and who was God in the flesh. It teaches me that He died on Calvary so that I might live and live abundantly and eternally! It teaches me that God hates sin, but that God loved me enough to die for me so that I could escape hell and join Him in Heaven.

It teaches me to pray and to love and to serve. It teaches me the very foundations for living.

Words have power, but the most powerful words are those that are inspired of God...the Bible.

"Wonderful words in the Bible I read, but this is the dearest: That Jesus loves me."

What words do you read? Do they teach you truth in Christ?
What words do you speak? Do they glorify God?
What words do you write? Do they point to the Saviour?
What words do you hear? Do they encourage Godliness?