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275 | Your Words Matter - Aligning our Speech with God's Word · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

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Music.
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Hello, friends, and welcome back to another podcast of Woman at the Well Ministries,
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where we believe that all of us have to come to Jesus like the woman at the
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well in John chapter four.
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Our highest priority is making God real in your life.
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Whether you are listening in our app, in your favorite podcasting app,
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or on our website at watwm.org,
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we invite you to sit down with us as we look to the scriptures to learn more
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about God and to strengthen your daily walk with Jesus Christ.
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Living her life for Christ, she's a happy girl.
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Music.
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She's a happy girl.
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We live in a world where for most people, talk is cheap, and they will say whatever
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they want, whether or not it is nice, true, or necessary.
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But scripture tells us that we are to value our words.
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Words are powerful and have the opportunity to build others up or tear others down.
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They can have a lasting impact on a person's self-esteem, confidence,
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and overall well-being.
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Proverbs 25 11 says a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.
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Every word you speak creates a picture for others to see.
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Our words should lead others to Jesus. us. Join us in this podcast as Kim takes
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us on a journey through the scriptures, examining the power of our words.
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Hello, and thank you for joining us in this podcast of Woman at the Well Ministries,
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and what an absolute pleasure it is to spend this time with you in the Word of God.
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As I'm thinking about this scripture in Proverbs 25 11, which says,
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a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.
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It reminds me of how beautiful our words can be.
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And when you speak the words that you're using, they create a picture for others to see.
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And I believe that when I look at this verse,
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it reminds me of apples that are framed, these golden apples that are framed
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in this amazing frame of silver,
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with light just glistening and bouncing off of this framed picture in ways that
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as you look from different angles, you see different things.
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But all of them are bright.
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And when I think about brightness, I think about the fact that brightness is
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the opposite of darkness.
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And I realize that that light dispels darkness.
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And I know that the devil is in
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this world because he's the prince of the power of the air of the world.
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But I also know that Jesus is greater than him.
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And I believe that so often we introduce the devil into our conversations.
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We bring the devil into our relationships, and we do it with our words,
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because we're speaking things that are dark, and we're speaking things that
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are negative, and we're speaking things that are hurtful.
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But when we come into our relationships with words that are uplifting and encouraging,
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then what we're doing is we are giving space for the Lord to work.
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We are opening up people's hearts and their minds.
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And pushing the devil away so that the Lord can have His place in our relationships,
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and His place in our homes, and His place in our conversations.
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See, Jesus is the foundation of all things.
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And Jesus wants to be the center of all things. and He can be the center of
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all things, including your relationships, if you bring Him into it.
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And when you think about how powerful words are, I want you to remember that
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God spoke the world into existence.
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I want you to remember that when Jesus healed the blind, mind,
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he spoke as He touched them.
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And I want you to remember the amazing account of Lazarus, dead in the tomb.
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He'd been dead four days.
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And when Jesus comes to the tomb, He speaks, speaks Lazarus, come forth.
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Words are powerful. Words are the means by which we establish our relationships.
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Words are how we understand who people are, what's going on in the world around
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us, words, whether they are spoken or whether they are thought in our heart,
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is how we pray to Jesus.
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It's how we speak to God through Jesus the Son. It's how we call upon the name of the Lord to be saved.
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Words are powerful, but so many of us speak them, and we don't even think about what we're saying.
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So many of us don't own the fact that our words are so powerful that they affect
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people emotionally, intellectually, and physically.
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They can have lasting impact on a person's self-esteem, confidence,
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and overall well-being.
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How we speak to ourself and others can influence our thoughts,
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our beliefs, our actions, and even shape how we see the world.
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Words are not just things that fall quickly out of our mouth.
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They are powerful, and they unleash incredible power.
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You can choose to unleash power that builds and encourages and uplifts and creates
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a place where people are free free to understand who God is.
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They're free to live in His presence.
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They are free to be the person that God has called them to be.
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Or you can speak words that are negative and tear down and are hurtful.
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But don't ever underestimate the power of your words.
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They are either building up or they are tearing down.
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I want you to think about what John 1:14 says when he said the Word was made
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flesh and dwelt among us. The Word.
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Jesus himself. The Word of God.
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If you're not convinced to this point of the power of words,
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open up your Bible and begin to read.
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It changes everything. For a sinner, it changes their eternity when they read
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the word of God and embrace it and receive the life-giving, saving grace of Jesus Christ.
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To the downtrodden Christian who is feeling the stress and problems of the world
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when they begin to read, The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
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He leadeth me beside the still waters.
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They begin to feel the power of His presence in their life, and they begin to
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understand the love, the grace, the mercy, the joy, the peace that passes understanding.
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To the scared, it becomes a calming presence.
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As they read about the fact He will never leave us nor forsake us.
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As they understand He’s a friend that sticks closer than a brother.
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To those that are in need, and they begin to read the promises in Philippians
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that says that He will supply all of our needs according to His riches and glory.
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To the weak, when they read that He says he'll supply all of the strength to
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do what He’s called you to do.
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To the ones who are needing hope, and they read that He says He will complete
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that which He has begun in you.
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To the lonely, when He says, nothing will separate me from you. You are my love for you.
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If you choose to receive me as Savior, I will never, ever stop loving you.
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Even when you reject me, I won't stop loving you, but you will choose to be without me.
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And then when you're wondering what happens when this world is over,
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and your eyes glance upon John chapter 14, and He says, is in my father's house are many mansions.
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And if it were not so, I would have told you.
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Oh, what a hope.
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Oh, what a joy.
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His words are life-giving. They're life-changing. They transform you because they're truth.
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Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.
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So that leads us to the concept of what are our words doing?
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Because if they're not building up and encouraging and lifting others up,
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then they must be tearing them down.
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Sometimes silence is deafening. Oftentimes we see people use it as a weapon.
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Don't fool yourself. yourself, not speaking isn't the nice way.
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Choosing to not speak if you have nothing good to say is.
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But when you choose silence, you choose not to give love.
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You choose not to build up. you choose not to encourage.
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When you choose silence and you turn a deaf ear, you choose to let the space that God has given you.
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To go void of the love He’s told you to fill it with.
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In John chapter 13 and verse 35, He says, By this shall all men know that you
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are my disciples, if you have love one for another.
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And then in 1 John 3:18, He says, My little children, let us not love in word,
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neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth.
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Truth He’s saying we have to love
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in ways that are more than
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just words in ways we're
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deafening silence isn't a weapon we're in
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times of struggle and and stress we
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are talking and we are communicating husbands and wives listen silence allows
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the devil to put things in your head and allows you to create often untrue scenarios.
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Speak your words of love. Ask your questions.
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Talk about the things that are important to you. Do the things with each other.
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That allow you to share and make memories to talk about for days to come.
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Choose your words wisely. Let them be like apples of gold and pictures of silver.
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Don't miss the opportunity to tell someone you love them because you're not
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promised that you'll have another opportunity.
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You don't know when that person you love when their time on earth is ending.
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You want to speak life-giving words to their heart, to their spirit,
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to their soul. No, words are powerful and they are lasting and they are important.
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You must choose them wisely and you must choose to use them.
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And don't use them like grains of sand on a beach, but use them like pieces of gold in your bank.
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Not being stingy, but being careful.
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Use words that build up and encourage and lift people up.
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Use words that show you your heart because that's what your words are doing.
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If you are a negative person with negative words, you have a negative heart.
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Because out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.
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Fill yourself with the love of God. Fill yourself with His goodness.
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Fill yourself with His mercy.
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Fill yourself with His honor and His glory.
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Walk in His commandments and let your words reflect the amazing relationship you have with Jesus.
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Each of us right now must take a moment and reflect how do our words reveal
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our relationship with Jesus.
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Some of us may be quick to anger, but we must be slow to speak.
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We cannot just spout off things and believe that when we're done and we say
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I'm sorry, even if we truly mean it, that it's all over.
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All of us in our lifetime have either heard the story or seen the illustration.
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Where you have these two individuals and one person is speaking,
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and as they speak negative words, they are just pounding a nail in a board.
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So after about a five-minute conversation and they've really told this person
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off, and for a split second in their life, they might feel relieved leave because
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they got it off their chest.
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And then they realize that they've hurt this person's feelings and they begin to say, I'm sorry.
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And so with the, I'm sorry, they start to pull out the nails of this board,
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but guess what? The holes are still there.
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My friend, if you can get a glimpse of that illustration of how powerful your
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words are, the holes in that board will never be filled the same again.
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In a moment, you can destroy families. In a moment, you can destroy friendships.
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In a moment, you can destroy your reputation, all because you were not careful with your words.
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But the scripture says that your words are meant to be beautiful because when
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you speak them correctly,
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and I don't mean with great grammar, it's not an educated speech that moves people's hearts.
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It is a combination of words that are filled with love and mercy and grace and
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goodness that bathes a person's heart, and it will massage the bad things of this world away.
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It will change hardened hearts into soft hearts.
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It will change how a person thinks about themselves and others.
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Great words, words of wisdom, words of goodness, words of love,
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words filled with Jesus and who He is will change other people.
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But you can't be speaking good words one moment and bad words the next moment and expect people.
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To feel good about themselves when they're in your presence because those holes
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in the board of their heart, they're still there.
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People, you have to realize that your words are demonstrating your relationship with Jesus.
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And He says to love not in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and truth.
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So He’s saying little children, believers, dear ones, let us just not love in theory.
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Let us just not talk about how we love, but by giving action and in truth and
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in practice and in sincerity, not just lip service,
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because it's the practical acts of love that are more than just any quick words
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we could say that we love them.
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So we can use words cheaply, even if we're saying the right word.
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Because if you don't mean it, if you're not backing up your words of love,
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if you're just saying them to get something,
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if you're just saying them so that you can receive from that person what what
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you want, if you're not there for them, if you're not really loving them,
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then those words aren't glistening like apples of gold in pictures of silver
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either. They're just words.
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Words can be powerful and words can be empty.
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Words that have no emotion behind them, no action in them, and don't line up
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with how you treat others, no matter how they sound,
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will never paint the picture you're trying to paint.
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But when you come into a relationship, you come into a marriage,
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you exist in a family where your words are spoken,
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that back the actions you are giving, that resemble the practice of your love, your mercy,
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and your grace that you are always meeting out.
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When you have that kind of conversation, it is then.
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That you will offer powerful, life-giving words.
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And when your words are founded and predicated in the Word of God.
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And you are speaking His truths, He will use them to transform others.
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But He can't use an unclean vessel to transform anyone.
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The Bible tells us in Ephesians 4.29 to let no corrupt communication proceed
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out of your mouth, of that which is good to the use of edifying,
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that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
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In Ephesians 4:29, we are simply being told that your mouth can minister grace,
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but don't be talking foul or polluting language.
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Don't use evil words or unwholesome or worthless talk.
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Don't let it ever come out of your mouth, but only speak or use words that are
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good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others, ones that fit the occasion,
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that fitly spoken word in Proverbs 25:11,
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so that your words may be a blessing and give God's favor and grace grace to those who hear them.
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When people are in your presence, do they walk away feeling closer to the Lord? Do they feel loved?
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Do they feel as if they have hope?
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Have you spoken wisdom from God's word, love from your heart that is bathed
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in a personal relationship with Jesus Jesus Christ.
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See, Proverbs 18:21 says that death and life are in the power of the tongue,
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and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
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They're telling us that those who love and indulge will eat the fruit and bear
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the consequences of their words.
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If your words are full of what God wants them to be, if they are edifying and
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lifting up, if He’s using you to encourage and to help others,
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then, my friend, you're going to bear those consequences.
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Be not deceived. God is not mocked. Whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap. Sow kindness.
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Sow joy. Sow peace.
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Peace don't sow chaos, hatred,
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hurt, but instead let your mouth be an instrument that God can use to bring Him glory, honor.
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To assist others in knowing who God is.
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There's power in your words, and you can choose to let the Lord control your
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tongue, as James talks about, or you can let the devil use it to tear down.
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But I encourage you from the depths of my heart to pay attention to the words you are speaking.
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Speaking Matthew 12:36 says but I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak,
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they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment I'm all about laughter and fun.
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And I love that in my relationships but I'm also careful as I understand that God has given us a voice.
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And the voice He has given us is to speak His truth.
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He said to go into all the world and preach and teach the gospel.
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And your world, my friends, are those that are around you.
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And your primary purpose of your words is to be His hands and His feet and to lead others to him.
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Him, as your heart becomes more submitted to him, as you turn to Him and trust
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him fully and completely, you become more like Him and your words should follow suit.
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The word was made flesh and dwell among us.
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That thought alone gives you a perfect picture of the power of your words.
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And He said, a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold and pictures of silver.
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Today, choose to allow your words to match your actions.
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Your words and your actions to give honor and glory to the Lord.
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Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify
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your Father, which is in heaven. Matthew 5:16.
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Today, choose your words wisely, and remember you are loved. Jesus loves you.
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