Your Words
By William R. Cunningham
Introduction
What are you saying? We have talked about faith and believing God in previous lessons. However, what you believe is expressed by what you do and say. If we were to examine the words that we and others say we may find that we lack confidence in God or at the very best that our confidence is only in our heads. When real issues of life arise we fall back on what we truly believe in our heart, which in many cases is the antithesis of what the bible reveals to us.
This lesson will present what the bible tells us about our confessions and how they affect the course of our lives. As I once received in prayer, “All we have is our confession.”
Scripture Lessons
Proverbs 18:20–21 (NRSV) — 20 From the fruit of the mouth one’s stomach is satisfied; the yield of the lips brings satisfaction. 21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.
This passage reveals the following.
- By our words will bring us satisfaction in our lives
- Our words may bring life or death (figuratively and actually in some cases)
- Those who love to talk (in the verse 21 – “who love it”) will realize the effects of their speech.
Read also James 3:1-12
The context of the passage above is teachers. James describes the power of words and how it can do great things by some illustrations, e.g., the rudder that controls a large ship. Consider how the words of popular figures can change the course of history! Therefore, we too, who may be teachers in our own sphere of influence, must be careful of what we say and seek for perfection (i.e., maturity) in our speech (verse 2)
Matthew 12:33–35 (NRSV) — 33 “Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good things, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person brings good things out of a good treasure, and the evil person brings evil things out of an evil treasure.
Here Jesus teaches us that a tree is either good or evil and knowing what kind of tree a person is can be determined by what they say (or teach). Evil people speak evil things thus producing evil and good people speak good things thus producing what is good.
Matthew 12:33–35 (NRSV) — 33 “Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good things, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person brings good things out of a good treasure, and the evil person brings evil things out of an evil treasure.
You may notice the correlation between the words that we speak and their effects. We can consider the two to indicate the same thing, namely the state of the individual. A righteous person will say and therefore produce righteous things and an evil person will say and therefore produce evil things. Our words is a window to our heart.
Matthew 7:15–20 (NRSV) — 15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? 17 In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will know them by their fruits.
A good person bears good fruit (they effect good things with their words) and an evil person bears evil fruit (they effect evil with their words).
See also the following passages of scripture.
- Proverbs 12:14, 10:20-21
- Ephesians 4:29
- Titus 1:7-11
Lesson learned
What we say is directly related to the condition of our heart and we will produce the evil or good that is in the heart and expressed through words.
There are at least two ways that our words can affect our lives and the lives of others.
- They reveal what is in the heart of a person
- They affect the decisions, emotions, and actions of others (and perhaps even yourself via self-talk)
We will discuss these two aspects later in the lesson.
Faith Application
Consider the two passage of scripture below.
Romans 10:8–10 (NRSV) — 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.
We see that salvation is realized by believing in the heart and expressed by speaking words. We believe in our hearts that Jesus Christ died for our sins and was raised from the dead (See also Romans 1:4). The believing with the heart and confessing with the mouth work together. It is because you believe that you confess, in this case in the redemptive act of Jesus Christ.
We see here that our words are powerful because it comes from faith that resides in the heart concerning Jesus. Merely saying Jesus is the Christ will not save you. It must come as a result of the condition of the heart that it truly has power and meaning.
Let’s consider another illustration of words as it relates to belief.
Mark 11:22–24 (NRSV) — 22 Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. 23 Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. 24 So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
Notice what Jesus said. He said, “if you SAY to this mountain,” and “do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass.” What you say is a result of your faith in God that resides in your heart. First Jesus said to have faith in God. That establishes the object, so to speak, of our confidence. We put our trust and confidence in God and therefore say. What we say comes from what we believe.
Notice another thing here. It appears that there is something that can oppose your faith in God and perhaps even the belief in your heart. That opposition is doubt. What does doubt mean?
The Dictionary of Bible Themes – Uncertainty about the truth and reality of spiritual things, as seen especially in a lack of faith in and commitment to God. Uncertainty, hesitation and doubt reflect a failure of the basic human ability to choose. They reveal an internal debate and lack of conviction.
Strong’s Dictionary – to separate thoroughly, i.e., to withdraw from, or (by implication) oppose; fig. to discriminate, content, hesitate.
This means that our faith in God and what we believe in our hearts must be pure in order to be fully effective. Doubt, i.e., indecision, will rob you of the effects of faith. Instead of your words being consistent to what it would be if you had total faith in God, you may find yourself confessing the opposite. Instead of believing and confessing that you have overcome, you will instead begin to say how bad things will be and the like.
This suggests that our words indicate the positive and negative aspects of the heart. It reveals our faith and trust in God and it reveals the unbelief we have pertaining to God and his word.
Effect on Others
We see from the above discussion that our words reveal the condition of our heart. Therefore, in order for your words to be effective, we must change what we believe.
Another aspect is the effect our words have on others. Consider how you would feel if someone told you that you are the greatest person he or she has ever met. What if your boss told you that you have done an excellent job? Imagine how good you would feel. Your words have an impact on others and therefore we should use them effectively.
Sometimes people only want to know that you care and your words can let them know that you do care. Sometimes people may be going through a crisis and they only need for someone to tell them that everything will be alright. Our words are powerful. Consider the impact your words have on your children. Words are indeed powerful.
Your Thinking
Romans 12:2 (NASB95) — 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
We have seen how faith, your heart, and your words work together to produce (or not produce) fruit in your life. However, there is at least one more thing that is expedient in this area and that is our thinking. If we tend to think a certain way, then we will tend to believe and therefore operate a certain way. IF we think a certain way then we will believe a certain way.
Many people are infected by bad teaching whether it is in church, your job, your family, or life in general. For example, if we are taught that God is angry with us and is looking for any way to punish us then our entire way of thinking will be to appease a tyrant God and one of fear of the angry God.
We should be diligent to change the way that we think so that we may operate consistent with the Kingdom of God. If we think like the world, then we will operate as one in the world. If we think like the Kingdom of God then we will operate more as one in that kingdom.
Sidenote
Consider the following passage of scripture.
Proverbs 23:7 (NASB95) — 7 For as he thinks within himself, so he is. He says to you, “Eat and drink!” But his heart is not with you.
Proverbs 23:7 (HCSB) — 7 for it’s like someone calculating inwardly. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.
I used two different translations of the Bible for this passage of scripture to make another two points. The first is that when studying the Bible it is a good idea to use other resources to help you interpret the passage as accurately as possible. In this case the word “thinks” in the NASB comes from the Hebrew word that means to calculate. This verse is telling us that people will sometimes say one thing to you when they really don’t mean it.
The primary point here is that just because you say something, then that doesn’t mean that it is really in your heart. Yes. It is true that we speak the things that is in our heart, but we can also speak the things that are merely in our minds and not really in our hearts. People can put up a façade making you believe something that is not truel
Jesus taught us how to protect ourselves of this in Matthew 7 where he said that we could know false prophets by their fruit. What does a person produce? What does a person do? Don’t just go by what they say.
Conclusion
Our words are powerful and they can affect the course of our life and the lives of others. We should therefore take heed to what we say. This means that we have to examine our hearts to know what is really in us. Just because we say we trust God doesn’t mean that we really do. We may know that we can trust God or that we should trust God or even that He is trustworthy, but in our hearts we don’t trust Him for whatever reason.
The Apostle Paul said that we can be transformed by renewing our minds. The writer of Hebrews said that faith comes by hearing through the word of God (Romans 10:17).
Trust God. Believe God to care for you throughout your entire life and in every situation. Be sure that your faith resides in your heart and not merely in your head (called mental ascent). Confess the word of God as you believe it. Meditate on the word of God and you will be blessed (Psalm 1:1-3).
Your words are powerful so use them accordingly.