Well Spoken: Your words are not your own

Incredibly, the God who created and rules the universe is not silent. He’s not just a God who does amazing things; He also says amazing things. And why does He stoop to speak to us? Why does He take the time to address us with the words of human language that we can understand?

God knows we will never understand what we need to understand; we will never know what we need to know to be what we were created to be and do what we were designed to do unless He speaks to us.

God speaks! God speaks! God speaks! And He has spoken to us in His most expansive, comprehensive and fundamental form in the Word that He has given us.

That means there is the hope of knowing, a hope of understanding, a hope of being wise, a hope of being sure, a hope of making the right decisions and taking the right actions, understanding who you are and what you are called to do, and having answers to the most fundamental questions of human existence.

For any of us who have ever been confused . . . ever had big questions . . . ever lain in our beds wondering things about life . . . ever not known what to think or do next . . . ever found ourselves in situations that are way beyond our knowledge, understanding or wisdom, it should be a phenomenal comfort to us to know that God is a God of revelation.

Allow me to address another very important (and related) truth.

You cannot understand human communication unless you start here. The first words ever spoken on earth were not spoken by a human being; they were spoken by God. God is the Creator of language. Words belong to Him. And in the words of God, you see words used for the highest purpose.

It’s not enough to say that God spoke, that He gave us the ability to speak. We must recognize that words belong to the Lord, and my words belong to the Lord.

Because words are rooted in Him, because everything we say is connected to the God who speaks and gives us the ability to speak, we have to say, right here, right now, in everyday life, “My words belong to the Lord.”

In God’s initial words in the garden, we see the dignity and the power of words. And when you see words at their most powerful and dignified, you see the way God intended words to be spoken.

You should ask, “Are my words spoken with that kind of dignity—with the awareness of how important words are?” As you talk, do you recognize the power of this amazing gift?

Proverbs 18:21 states, “Words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit—you choose (The Message).

This means that our words have power and always create some effect. They are never powerless or neutral. They have direction to them—either going in the direction of life or of death.

You either speak the life-giving words of help, instruction, hope, insight and encouragement, or death-dealing words of harsh criticism, condemnation, sinful anger, gossip, pride and envy.

Words bring life; words bring death; you choose. And so, when you listen in on creation, when you see the dignity and power of words, when you see words used for their best purpose, when you see that words are never misused, you are reminded of this principle again.

Our words become a place of trouble when we mistakenly take words as if they belong to us. You have never spoken a word that belongs to you. They all belong to the Lord. He created them, and He has a purpose for them. And the goal of everything we say must be this: to speak according to His design and to His standard with every word we speak.

When you speak, do you remember who gave you this ability and who owns every word? When you speak, do you speak with purpose and power, or do you take words as your own and use their power for your own purpose?

God who gave you words is the same God who now gives you grace to speak those words as He intended. The God who gave you words is the same God who now gives you the grace to speak those words as He first intended.

Use words, but use them well. After all, they’re not really yours.

SAM HINN’s mission is to love people back to life, to love people regardless of color, creed or past deeds. Throughout his 40 years in ministry, Sam has traveled nationally and internationally, speaking at churches, conferences and leadership events. His passion is to bring healing to a broken church system and restore leaders who have been broken by it. He is the pastor of Genesis Church Orlando, formerly The Gathering Place.