I was 24 years old.  It was before I had braces and I was so very embarrassed at how my teeth looked.   I was sitting in the computer room with my wife; we were sitting close together after I had won a computer game against her. I smiled big at her, and she looked at me and said “Get your teeth fixed,  you freak!”  I will never forget it.  I wish I could, but its like a searing hot arrow in my heart and my mind - a pain that lasts and an ugly thought about myself that is like a continual, open sore. 

 Rewind.

I’m 15.  High School starts.  I wear shorts.  I have skinny legs and more than one classmate laughs at me, points and mocks, and tells me I have skinny legs. From then on I become a man who rarely wears shorts, and certainly not in public.  

Rewind. 

Early Church believers (our family) had been a part of many miracles, including the Great Day Of Pentecost, where tongues of fire appeared over their heads and they glorified God in many languages.   Then they were persecuted and scattered all over the place.  They struggled with abandonment and lies and difficulties.  Peter the apostle sends them a letter and says: “You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,  His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of the darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter2:9).   And those downtrodden and slumped over begin to stand tall.  They walk as royalty.  They act as priests. They bear the light. They remember who they are. 

Rewind.  

God said “Let there be light” and guess what?   There was light.

My precious brothers and sisters.  Words matter.  Words have power.    Words affect the people around us.   They can bring life or death.    They can be a tool for destruction and accusation in the hand of the enemy, or they can encourage and build up and be light in the hands of the Holy Spirit.   Have you noticed some of the things God has said about words in the Bible?  We have all probably heard these passages but let’s not let familiarity rob them of their truth and power…. 

 “Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
And those who love it and indulge it will eat its fruit and bear the consequences of their words” (Proverbs 18:21 AMP) 

“Words are powerful; take them seriously. Words can be your salvation. Words can also be your damnation” (Mathew 12:37 message)

“The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing”  (Proverbs 12:18 NIV) 

Have you noticed how reckless people are with their words to each other, especially on social media?  I wonder if they realize what kind of damage it does.  Have you ever been talked about behind your back?  It’s so powerful, right?  If someone says something good about you to someone else, it has such an uplifting power. If someone says something bad about you to someone else and you hear about it, doesn’t it just crush your spirit? 

Words have POWER, my brothers and sisters. They have the power to define us, change the way we think about ourselves and each other.  They can also crush us, break us, hold us hostage to lies and accusation.  Words matter, they matter so much that our Father gave us His written Word (the Bible), called His Son, Jesus, “the Word”, relates to us in spoken words of prayer or sung words of worship, and even spoke the universe into existence….with a WORD. 

Words matter.  Words have power.  And they matter the most and have the most power when the words spoken are by someone close to us. 

We have all been there, right?  Don’t we have those memories of what someone said that crushed us and seems to stick with us, maybe even years later?  Don’t we daily hear something from someone that hurts?  Here is the thing though: we are a peculiar people. We are indeed a chosen generation and a royal priesthood.  We are His beloved.   And we are called, commanded, and commissioned to “not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Ephesians 4:29).  My family, don’t we all get enough judgement and gossip and accusation from the world around us? From our own earthly families and that horrid lying voice in our head??   Let’s remember that words matter, that they have power and can create or destroy.  Let’s build each other up.  Leave the accusations and gossip to the enemy, I promise he won’t sleep on that job.  He will take care of that.   Why don’t we, as children of light, resolve to only speak life to one another?  And the world around us?  To never gossip or slander.  To never make a harsh “joke”, especially when it comes to the people closest to us.  Why not be like our Father and speak words of Life - always? 

Fast forward. 

I’m 40.  I’m walking the green line, trying to worship and continually fighting the accuser in my own head.  I hear the Father through the Holy Spirit say “You are my son”.  My slumped over walk straightens.  My eyes shine with tears.  I rejoice.  I walk taller.  I’ll never forget the love in His voice.  Those words…so so good.  

Fast Forward.  

I’m at a prayer meeting with my family from Selah,  and my brother Jesse Rice is saying for the 1000th time how I bless people when I pray for them. I honestly struggle with the encouragement but it also sinks in a little more each time he says it.  I think “maybe I do matter to them, maybe I do help them”.   I walk a little taller.   I smile more..  

The words spoken over me seem to continually replay in an endless loop and define how I feel about myself, what I do, how I see the world.  I know its that way with you too. The words spoken by my Father literally change the world in dramatic and eternal ways, and He loves to speak those words through His people. 

Words matter.  Words have Power.   Lets use that power for good.   Let’s be more like our Dad.

- David Esgro