Written by Kristi Bond, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Arkansas
How often do we do something without thinking it through first? The answer should be…constantly. In fact, God created our brain to direct various functions of the body without our having to think about them or be completely conscious of them. The actions and reactions of the nervous system, digestion and respiration, for example, do not need our attention.
One of the greatest problems that human beings have is that we often speak or have conversations as if our capacity to speak were merely one of these unconscious acts. We speak without meaning to. We don’t guard our tongue when we should. Or we let moments pass when we should have spoken the truth because we are not aware.
When God created the universe, light, land, animals – and humans – He did it with words. “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light…God called the light ‘day,’ and the darkness he called ‘night’…” (Gen. 1:3-5, NIV). In the first chapter of her book Speak Love: Making Your Words Matter, Annie F. Downs writes that God could have created the world by coughing or with His hands or His thoughts, but He didn’t do it that way. More than half of the verses in Genesis 1 record God’s words - communication was integral to creation.
More than this, our Creator formed us in His image (Gen. 1:26-27), giving us also the capacity to communicate – and not only to communicate, but to create with our words. What is it that, at least in part, creates a friendship? A marriage? An idea put into practice, or a new business? Words! Communication gives life to desires and thoughts. We have the capacity to create because God gave us the gift of the spoken word.
In the first communication from Adam of which the Bible informs us, he himself gives names to the animals, in the same way that God named the day and the night: “…whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name” (Gen. 2:19b, NIV). Names are important, as are the words that we use to describe something. Our words contribute to forming perceptions of everything around us and even of what we think of ourselves. Most importantly, our words can impact the self-perceptions of others. Communication redefined recognizes the power of creation that exists in our words.
We are reminded of this power in Proverbs: “The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit” (15:4, NIV), and also “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit” (18:21, NIV).
If the power of life and death resides in our words, shouldn’t we consider them carefully? How is it that we can treat so casually this incredible gift that God has given us? When we put down another woman, when we disparage our husband or criticize our children without thinking, we sow thorns instead of planting a tree of life. We must give thought to the fruits that our words produce in the lives of others.
How can you use your words today to create life?