How close are you guarding your words? As a Faith Leader, you know how important your words are. Words create life or death. They inspire love or hate. They encourage or discourage. When I was a child, I used to say, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” That’s a nice rhyme, but it’s not completely true. Words can hurt very much, but they can also heal.
Power Words
Faith-filled words are power words. They win battles, initiate salvation, heal bodies, and increase finances. Consider Joshua. When it was time for him to lead the people Moses had led for 40 years, what did God tell him to do? God didn’t tell Joshua to drill his troops, practice hand-to-hand combat, or sharpen his swords. God told him, This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. (Joshua 1:8)
How do you minister salvation to someone? After you tell them the Good News about Jesus and they believe and receive it, then you ask them to speak it according to Romans 10:9-10. It says that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
What You’ve Said is What You’ve Got
If you’re frustrated with where you are or what you’ve got in life, perhaps you need to consider what words you’ve been speaking. Your words reflect your heart, or they should. If you only parrot faith words you’ve heard someone else say, but don’t hold them in your heart, they won’t produce anything. On the flip side, if your heart is full of bitterness towards a person or group of people or you constantly complain about your situation, those words will inevitably come out of your mouth, and they will direct your future. Jesus said, A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. (Matthew 12:35-37)
If you don’t like what you’ve got, you need to change what you are saying. Your words will produce either sickness or health, poverty, or wealth. What you say will even affect how long you live. Faith filled words are power words.
What to Say Over Your Offering
We don’t give to get, but one of God’s primary laws is the law of sowing and reaping. When you give generously, expect a return. If your return is lacking or lagging, perhaps you need to add some faith-filled words to your giving. In Deuteronomy 26, God gave the children of Israel faith-filled words to speak as they gave their tithes and offerings.
And thou shalt go unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him, I profess this day unto the Lord thy God, that I am come unto the country which the Lord sware unto our fathers for to give us. And the priest shall take the basket out of thine hand, and set it down before the altar of the Lord thy God. And thou shalt speak and say before the Lord thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous: And the Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage: And when we cried unto the Lord God of our fathers, the Lord heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labour, and our oppression: And the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders: And he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with milk and honey. And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, O Lord, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before the Lord thy God, and worship before the Lord thy God: And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you. (Deuteronomy 26:1-11)
God told His people to give with words of gratitude. As they sowed their seed, they were to remember the wondrous works God had done for them as a nation and as individuals.
Speak faith-filled words when you give, as you plan, as you pray, as you work and throughout your day. Faith-filled words describe what you are believing God to do in the future, but they also thank Him for what He’s done in the past. Begin today to speak only faith-filled words. Start with thanksgiving for where God has brought you. You may not be where you want to be, but thank God! You’re not where you were. Use your words to create your world according to God’s Word!