There’s a book of the Bible called Proverbs, which is essentially a compilation or collection of wisdom written by ancient sages. It offers instruction for living and says this about our words:
"The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences." - Proverbs 18:21
The point is that words are mini things packed with mighty consequences, for better or worse… for good or bad…for healing or harm.
Words have power. When we think of the power of words, we can all think of hurtful words we’ve sent, said, or heard and received. Words others have spoken over us, or we’ve spoken over ourselves. We all have words that keep us up at night or words we’ve tried to forget. One word can wreck someone’s self-esteem, ruin their reputation, end a relationship, or destroy someone’s career.
On the other hand, the book of Proverbs also says this about words:
“Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.”- Proverbs 16:24
Again, words have power. Words can reconcile people and make peace. Words can make marriages sweet, families strong, and communities healthy. Words can give hope to the despairing, start revolutions, make meaningful change, and bring healing. Our words have the power to bring hope and healing, to speak life, to empower, to love, and to encourage. Our words have the power to change the trajectory of someone’s life for good.
The book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible, tells us that God spoke and life happened. It’s the way the Bible tells our origin story; this is the Bible’s way of describing our ontology and cosmology.
- God spoke stars; there were stars.
- God spoke light; there was light.
- God spoke animals; there were animals.
We don’t know who that happened, but what we know is that God speaks and actually makes life happen.
The Bible also says that you and I were created in the image of God. That means we were made to image God, to reflect God, to show God’s love and goodness to the world around us. And one of the most powerful ways we do that is with our words.
In the same way, God speaks, and life is formed, we have been made, created, and called to speak life into each other, to speak life into our neighbors, our co-workers, and our family members. This is not just a fun, cutesy, positive thing to do. It’s one way we live out our image-of-God ness.
Even Jesus spoke and healed people. Jesus said, “Get up,” and people that were as good as dead got up!
It’s rough out there on social media, over text, online. People are awful to each other. They trample each other, and all kinds of poisonous things happen with our words. But what if we chose something different? What if you are the counter-liturgy to all that word destruction and word vomit out there?
Going back to our verse of Proverbs 16:24:
"Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones."
How do we begin choosing “honeycomb words”?
- Choose hopeful, healing words often, intentionally, and consistently; make this a habit.
Start by committing to speak healing words every day. Put a reminder on your phone. Speak honeycomb words this week to all the people you come across – at home, at work, in coffee shops, in traffic, etc.. Commit to speaking powerful words of healing, encouragement, and life to those people in those places every day this week.
2. If you want to choose empowering, healing words, you need to cultivate a healed, empowered character. Give your words weight and gravitas because of the life you live and the heart you cultivate. A life of integrity creates words that matter. So, choose a life of consistency, gratitude, patience, and faithfulness. Then your words will have real influence.
In a world that is bent on squishing, smashing, slandering, and silencing one another, we can choose a better way—Jesus’s way of speaking LIFE to people, with not much equipment at all...just these little things called our mouths.
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Wasan Tita
