“The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, but the speech of the upright rescues them” (Proverbs 12:6).
In the tall grass lies the lion in wait for the small defenseless antelope in an unaware moment to pounce upon the weaker. The small antelope in an instant will lose its life at the jaws of the ferocious beast. In a moment life is lost forever. So are the power of words from the lips of uncaring and wicked men. The words lie in wait to destroy and wound innocent people. Some words never lose their sting through the years. Their power to cause pain is there long after the one who spoke is gone. The words of a dad in anger will sting and infect for decades. The jabs of a husband to his bride lie silently in the mind of his bride for years. The words spoken through uncaring lips are deadly and devastating.
How good are the words of the upright? They are the words of the physician who declares, "The disease is gone!" They are the words of the minister who declares, "Your sins are forgiven, go and sin no more!" They are the words of a dad that says, "Son, I am proud of you! " They are the words of a man to his bride, "I love and cherish you above all of life!" They are the words of rescue to all who are lost in a surge of dark and powerful waves of the world. They are the light in a dark night.
A friend shares his devotions
with me and others through emails, I must admit that I don't read them all, but
this one really spoke to me. Not that I grew up being verbally abused, nor have
I ever been married so I cannot say that I have abused my spouse, though there
have been relationships, there was rarely any verbal abuse. As for wicked words
spoken to others, I try to be nice most times. I'm not saying I'm perfect, not
even close to it because my mouth does have a tendency to get me in trouble at
times but the reason this message ministered to me is because I have seen the
effects of Words in the lives of people who are very close to me. Many times I
wish that there was something that I could say to ease the sting of these words
because I can feel the hurt in them even though they were not aimed at me.
Remember telling others when you
were just a kid, 'You better take that back' if they said something
to hurt you? Well the Truth is that once spoken it's not so easy to just take
them back. Words do last, and the pain of hurtful words may linger a lot longer
than we would believe.
Someone once told me that I had a short man's attitude. What does that mean? Well being only 5'4" I have always had a tendency to feel that I needed to defend myself when attacked verbally, even if it was done in jest, didn't matter to me, pride said "Hit back".
And still most times when someone takes a jab at me verbally I still have the impulse to jab back, but I have learned to keep my testimony, (most of the time), :)
Yes, Words do have power, God says they have the power of life and death, Prov. 18 : 21, but the Lord I serve has triumphed over them:
Someone once told me that I had a short man's attitude. What does that mean? Well being only 5'4" I have always had a tendency to feel that I needed to defend myself when attacked verbally, even if it was done in jest, didn't matter to me, pride said "Hit back".
And still most times when someone takes a jab at me verbally I still have the impulse to jab back, but I have learned to keep my testimony, (most of the time), :)
Yes, Words do have power, God says they have the power of life and death, Prov. 18 : 21, but the Lord I serve has triumphed over them:
Psalm 30:1-5
1 I will extol You, O Lord, for You have lifted me up and have not let my foes rejoice over me.
2 O Lord my God, I cried to You and You have healed me.
3 O Lord, You have brought my life up from Sheol (the place of the dead); You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit (the grave).
4 Sing to the Lord, O you saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.
5 For His anger is but for a moment, but His favor is for a lifetime or in His favor is life. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.
And
He says that I am free from the power they once held over me. I don’t feel the
sting as I did in the past, but yet, they can still hurt at times….
How many times have you wished you could have just “Taken Back” the words you said in anger or fear? How many times have you ever felt hurt by the words spoken to you by someone you loved or respected? And do you still feel the pain of Words spoken to you in the past?
I do not wish to end this with a negative, so the most important question is; How has God comforted, healed, forgiven, or empowered you over the power of Words? Please share
How many times have you wished you could have just “Taken Back” the words you said in anger or fear? How many times have you ever felt hurt by the words spoken to you by someone you loved or respected? And do you still feel the pain of Words spoken to you in the past?
I do not wish to end this with a negative, so the most important question is; How has God comforted, healed, forgiven, or empowered you over the power of Words? Please share
