Never Underestimate the Power of Your Words

 

Proverbs 13:3(NLT)
"Those who control their tongue will have a long life; opening your mouth can ruin everything."

One of the worst arguments I’ve ever had was with my ex-husband while we were still married. He and I had been on non-speaking terms for almost three days. It was sucking the life out of me just to see his face. I was never the kind of person to go a whole day without speaking to my man, but the situation with him emotionally drained me. After several months of being married and living together under one roof, you begin to see the true nature of a person. I was very hurt and disappointed to witness that if my ex-husband felt I had wronged or disrespected him in some way, it wouldn’t bother him one bit to go days without mumbling a word to me.

One day he came home from work, and I couldn’t take the silence anymore. I said, “How much longer will we go not speaking to one another?” With absolutely no emotion or hesitation, he said, “As long as it takes.” I lost it emotionally. I used my mouth as a sword to emasculate him, and oh how I regretted it.

The wrong words can destroy a marriage. They can cause irreparable damage to a relationship. To think before we speak is perhaps the most common and beneficial of all human wisdom, but so many of us fail to heed it. God tells us in Proverbs 3:5-6 to trust in Him with all our hearts, and we should not lean on our own understanding. In all our ways, He commands us to seek Him, and He will then show us the path to take. This is God’s Word and wisdom, and there is no greater or wiser practice in all eternity than to do what He says.

God’s Word doesn’t fail, and He means that we should use it, especially in those times when we are trapped and set up by the enemy for a fall. Heavenly Father warns in 1Peter 5:8-9(NLT), “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith.” God has informed us that the devil is our great enemy, and he prowls around in our everyday environment, looking for an opening to steal, kill, and destroy. This isn’t something anyone should take lightly.

There are areas in each of our lives where we haven’t fully put on the love of God. We’re still indulging negative habit patterns that we’ve developed over the years from wrong believing. Things like insecurities, jealousy, fear, and the pettiness of looking down on others and taking cheap shots at people. We are arrogant in some ways and will not humble ourselves to do what God says instead of always going to what we’ve always done. Refusing to change our thoughts and behaviors is one of the ways that we create an opening for the devil to wreak havoc on our lives and relationships. The way to prevent this is to do as God commands in 1Peter 5:9 and be strong in our faith in God.

God commands us in Ephesians 4:23 to be renewed in the attitudes, thoughts, and feelings of our minds. To renew is to make brand new. It’s to put off those former ways of behaving and put on the nature of Christ in every situation. This is what God has commanded us to do. He commands us to change the way we think so that His love becomes the motivation behind our actions. God’s Word is perfect and true, and the reason that many people don’t renew their minds and change their actions is because they don’t believe God’s way works. They don’t believe that His way will always yield results that are beneficial for everyone. To have a successful relationship of any kind, this has to change.We must believe and trust that God will always tell us what is right and beneficial for our lives.

I’ve had to learn some things the hard way. Now, I start my day by asking the Holy Spirit to help me control my tongue. In the past, I said things that unintentionally hurt people I cared most about. When I was angry or upset, hurtful words came so easily. Before I could catch myself, I said something that I couldn’t take back. To stop the enemy from continuing to steal the joy and unity from my relationships, I renewed my mind to passages like Ephesians 4:29-32(NLT). It states:
29 Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. 30 And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. 32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.”

We must have faith in God. He tells us to get rid of behaviors like bitterness, rage, anger, and harsh words because these can cause a lot of trouble in your life if you don’t let go of them. Our Heavenly Father is our Creator, and we’re to do the things He’s told us to do so that our lives are covered under His goodness, protection, and care. He has informed us that it’s critical that we not give evil behaviors any room in our lives. 

We should never underestimate the power of our words. They can do great good, but they can also do great harm. We should avoid the latter at all cost. We must train ourselves to think before we speak. Romans 5:4-5(NLT) says, “And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.” God’s love is in our hearts through His precious Holy Spirit. The Spirit will help us to change our thoughts and attitudes so that love is our go-to, not anger. We must believe that Christ has made this possible for us, and that we can live through his love and make the choice to show it to others through our actions and words.■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

“Never Underestimate the Power of Your Words”, written by Kim for https://rescuefromdomesticviolence.blogspot.com© 2022. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Don't Make God’s Love Disappear

 

1John 3:16-17(The Message)
“This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.”

Looking at the condition of our world right now, you might ask, “Why have we strayed so far away from God’s love?”  Why do problems from racial tension, division, and greed throughout the world persist? What’s the cause of all this chaos and suffering? Even in our own personal lives there are dilemmas stemming from insecurities, emotional and relationship issues, and financial challenges. It can seem as though drama and darkness are coming at us from all fronts. This may be causing many of God’s people to doubt His love, and because of this doubt, they are walking around in sadness, darkness, and fear. God doesn’t want this for any of us, and He has provided a way of escape through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

In God’s Word, He tells us that the times will be perilous and that satan will blind the minds of many people. This is why chaos and suffering continue. Many people are rejecting the light of God’s love, and they are being blinded by evil and used by satan. God did not keep this a secret from us. He tells us about the future so we will not be tossed about, doubtful, or confused when His prophecy comes to pass. In Ephesians 6:10-11(NLT), He commands, “A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.”

A person can’t rise above what they don’t know. In other words, we can’t walk in knowledge that we don’t have. God commands us to read and study His Word so that we learn about Him through the Lord Jesus Christ. When we know His love through Christ, we can then walk in that love. We can put it on in our minds and hearts, and God’s love will then become a part of us.

As followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, we must know and trust God’s great love for us. 1John 4:9-10(NKJV) tells us, “9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” God invites us to come and live inside His love where His blessings and goodness abound. His way of relating to and working with us is always about the greater good, and when we accept His Word and love by faith, we come into agreement with Him to perform the extraordinary in our lives.

1John 2:9(NLT) teaches, “If anyone claims, “I am living in the light,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is still living in darkness.” Our relationship with God through Christ is a partnership. He has empowered us through His indwelling Holy Spirit, and this power has no limit. Holy Spirit power is activated in us through God’s love, and therefore, we must be active in His love to live through His power. Living through God’s love and power is our privilege and responsibility, and this means we can’t sit idly not knowing what to do. Our call is to love people with the love of God, and to be a blessing to others as we are led by God’s Spirit.

Many people are searching for love. They want a partner to walk with them through life. They want a significant person that will have their backs, and their intention is to reciprocate this devotion, loyalty, and support. This significant partnership of cycling love and support is very meaningful to having a fulfilling life. So, we love marital partnership and many of us want it. Not having this significant person in our lives makes some individuals feel lonely and sad. They’ve been single far longer than they’d like. And because they don’t know God’s Word, some think this is because God is punishing them, or they think He doesn’t want to bless them with a significant other. This simply isn’t true.

God doesn’t withhold blessings. He desires us to be blessed and happy infinitely more than we desire it for ourselves. Psalm 84:11(NLT) declares, “For the LORD God is our sun and our shield. He gives us grace and glory. The LORD will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right.” God wants to bless us, and this is why we must live in His love, because that is where His blessings and goodness abide.

Many of us, particularly single individuals, make a common mistake. It’s the error of underestimating God’s allegiance to seeing us grow in His brand of love. Our Heavenly Father is overwhelmingly committed to our growth in His love. He is committed to seeing evidence that we have a solid foundation of knowledge about the example of Christ and that we’re actually loving people through the love of Christ. This must be present and anchored in our lives way before romantic love comes into play. To switch this up can lead to heartbreaking consequences. Jesus Christ is our blueprint. God has commanded us to live love through Christ, and His commitment to this never waivers.

We have made the mistake of thinking that romantic love checks off all the boxes and we’re good to go once we find a person we can love in that way. This is an error that must be corrected. Romantic love is yummy, but it isn’t enough to express the love of God in faith. This is why so many relationships fall apart. God’s love is real love. It’s the glue, and if we miss this, we’ll miss a whole lot.

Romantic love disappears and can do so with such a speed that it leaves many people with devastating heartache, but God’s love should never disappear from our hearts. It’s our responsibility to make sure it doesn’t. If more of us took the responsibility to walk in God’s love as seriously as we should, the world would be a very different place. There must be evidence in our lives that we are loving God’s way, regardless of whether we’re attracted to someone physically. Romantic love will always be further down in the scope of importance. God’s love must be primary, and when it is, the things that are important will fall into place, and God will keep us in His peace and blessings continually.■

Scripture quotations marked (MSG) are taken from The Message. Copyright ©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

“Don’t Make God's Love Disappear”, written by Kim for https://rescuefromdomesticviolence.blogspot.com© 2022. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Kick Pain to the Curb

 

Release the pain and anger of past heartaches and embrace the
victory God gives us through Jesus Christ!

The Apostle Paul said in Philippians 3:13-14(NLT), “No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” In order to get the full impact of what God is teaching us through Paul in Philippians 3:13-14, we need to know a little bit about Paul’s background. At one time, his mind was so blinded by satan that he actually authorized the persecution, murders, and imprisonment of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. The things he had been taught were wrong, and because of this, he was going backward instead of forward. He fed his mind and heart lies and misinformation. He became full of arrogance and surprisingly, he thought he knew what God wanted.

Before Paul was converted and gave his life to Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus, he made humongous mistakes. Again, in his past, he was notorious for persecuting the very people that God commanded him to preach to after his conversion. So, when he started ministering the Gospel, as we can well imagine, it was an uphill journey. He understood that this was his purpose and destiny in Christ, but people had reservations because of Paul’s murderous history. They knew the things he had done, and it was hard for them to accept that he had been transformed by the Holy Spirit.

Paul became such a devoted and masterful teacher of the Gospel that the people could not deny that God was working through him. This is such a poignant example for us because Paul counted the things that he gained in Christ to be far superior to anything he had possessed or done wrong in his past. In Philippians 3:8(NLT), he proclaimed, “Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ.”

This is the posture, mindset, and attitude that God expects from us. We have made many mistakes in our past. We didn’t know the Lord as we do today, and we may not have had the desire to please Him as we do today. Some of us have gone through painful divorces. We’ve injured others and we’ve been injured ourselves from broken relationships. The emotional heartache and hurt of this pain can be very challenging to get over, but like the Apostle Paul, none of us can afford to allow our pasts to define our present or our futures.

This is a choice! Each of us must choose to let the past remain in the past. We must do this for our own sake and for the sake of God’s Will and plan for our lives. God tells us in Ephesians 4:31-32(NLT), “31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. 32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.” I recently had a conversation with a woman that is still enraged over the infidelity of her ex-husband. She refuses to get over how he treated her and their marriage. He’s moved on and is now in another relationship, but she is stuck in her past. This isn’t what God wants for any of us. He doesn’t want us to be blocked in our hearts and minds by something that occurred a long time ago. And if we're keeping it real, none of us can change what has already occurred.  

We can’t have a redo when it comes to our past. When those situations occurred, they may have impacted us in a very painful way, but instead of allowing them to trap us like quicksand, we should learn from them. We must understand that we can kick pain to the curb and keep it moving by attending to the things of God. We were born with God’s purpose in our DNA, and we will not be satisfied until we begin to walk in the destiny that He has placed us on this earth to achieve. We have victory in Christ! This is the truth! Paul recognized that everything outside of Christ is a lie, and everything in Christ is love, light, liberty, and life!

Everything in Christ is the truth! Our emotions may remind us of the past, but our emotions were never intended by God to govern our lives. Jesus Christ is Lord! He governs our lives, and nothing should ever come before him. We can be very emotional creatures, and as women, a lot of us base our emotional well-being on how the men in our lives respond to us. Instead, we should base our emotional well-being on how WE respond to GOD. It’s not that God doesn’t want us to be committed to our spouses, but He requires us to make Him the center of our universe. This is a space and place that cannot be shared with anyone or anything, because God is love and we can only truly love others because His love fills our hearts to overflowing.

1John 4:11-12(NLT) teaches us, “11 Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. 12 No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.”  This is the goal, to love better through Christ. Don’t hold grudges and resentment and be angry for a lifetime; don’t allow yourself to go there. It’s so destructive to our entire being. Don’t make room for emotions and attitudes that don’t serve you well. Instead, be committed to let God’s love fill you to overflowing. Believe the promises of His Word and repeat them to yourself continually. Pray and ask God to give you a new heart and be confident in His healing and His desire to give you victory in your life.■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

“Kick Pain to the Curb”, written for DomesticAbuseAwareness.Org ©2022. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!