Words of …

Lots of words are banded around in January. We start the year with “New Year’s Resolutions”, then once the return to work has gathered pace some of the more familiar ones start flying about. Words like: targets, projections, projects, attitudes, attendance, commitment, team–focus, and so on. These words of themselves are fine, but can, and unfortunately often are, wielded by those in authority to belittle others or “keep them in line” all under the guise of motivation.

This is not how the Bible speaks about words.  It treats them with care, as they carry power. The power to create or destroy, to uplift or put down, to heal or curse. There are numerous examples of each of these cases in scripture. For create, start in Genesis 1; where “then God spoke” precedes everything coming into being. For healing, see Matthew 8:5-13 as one example where Jesus heals the Centurion's servant at a distance just by speaking. There are countless others in Jesus ministry.

It might by a good topical study sometime this year to look at each time Jesus spoke. Who was it to, what happened next, what was the result, and who said the next thing. For some reason even if Jesus told people to be quiet about their healing the word spread anyway. Not sure I would be able to keep quiet if it was me. In fact when it has been me, words have not always been necessary to communicate the difference Jesus has made. Normally the gigantic grin on my face is enough to clue most folk in.

As we walk through 2024 let’s challenge ourselves, and yes me too, to choose our words with care. To mean what we say, to by weary of how our words are likely to affect others (remembering not all reactions can be precited in advance), to make what we say and how we say it (with or without words) reflect the Jesus living in us.

 - Vivienne Breen