Leaving Your Mark

There is something powerful when you utter words out loud. Its one thing to think them. Its another to hide them in your heart. Both are powerful and can have a long lasting effect, for good or bad. But there is something very potent about them coming out of your mouth. For me, when I complain out loud or speak against the truth of who God is, it seems like the words come alive and attack the snot out of me. Like releasing fireflies into the night, words are hard to recapture. Either I need to kill those words by going to God and be cleansed, or those words are going to kill me. Have you ever experienced that? So from my experience, here’s the easy way: quickly get the cleansing.

In a positive way, words can carry power too. I may be thinking lots of untruth in my heart. “Where is God? Why hasn’t He taken care of this or that? He’s so far away; why isn’t He listening?” or whatever. But then I choose to speak some truth out loud. Scripture works great for this. And the words take form and life and power. As I hear myself speak the truth out loud I am refreshed and renewed. And the lie I thought gets weaker and weaker. And when I speak truth to a friend or loved one, they get refreshed, renewed and strengthened.

Here’s the bottom line about spoken words: they leave a mark. For good or bad, they leave a mark. Its like I told Rachel once, from an analogy I had heard: words we speak are like nails hammered into a board of wood. We can apologize for words spoken in haste, much like pulling the nail out of the wood, but a mark is left, by our words and by the nail. We must be so careful what we say because they always leave a mark.

“Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift. Don’t grieve God. Don’t break his heart. His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for himself. Don’t take such a gift for granted. Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you. …live a life of love.” Ephesians 4:28-5:1 MSG