Mind your speech a little, lest you should mar your fortunes. ---William Shakespeare
WATCH YOUR WORDS
Are you working on the chain, gang? What you daily feed your mind will affect your thoughts; and your thoughts will shape your attitude. Your attitude, as previously discussed, further shapes your thoughts and emotions, your outlook on life, your actions, and your WORDS. Your words
can be constructive or destructive; facilitate your creative endeavors, and bring you closer to your dreams — or have a negative impact on you and the people you encounter.
A positive, faith-filled attitude will ultimately manifest itself in every area of our lives, especially in how we act and speak. And positive, faith-filled words and deeds are — like love — “what the world needs now.”
We’re constantly bombarded with foul phrases, critical comments, words that wound, and toxic talk. These words of death create a suffocating atmosphere of spiritual smog, which can choke our creativity and cloud our dreams and visions. On the other hand, constructive, encouraging, faith-filled “words of life,” coupled with acts of kindness, can help clear the air — and make our sojourn on this big blue marble a lot easier. Furthermore, positive words of life help to produce an environment where creativity can flourish and dreams can be shared and pursued.
Of course, not everything we do is smart, lovable, or justified; nor can we always be proud of everything we say. The good news is, just like our attitudes, we can CONTROL the words we speak. And we can ensure that what spews from our lips will work for us, not against us.
- Words have creative power. In fact, the first words ever spoken — by God, the Creator of the Universe — shaped the cosmos: “God said, ‘Let there be light, and there was light.'” (Genesis 1:3 NIV) And our Lord continued to SPEAK things into reality. In a string of “Then God said” moments, He created “all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it….” (Genesis 1:29 NIV)
If you ponder the wide variety of these beasts, birds, and “creatures” — their many different shapes, sizes, colors, and characteristics — you’ll begin to understand just how wonderfully creative our Lord is! Now, consider this: God made each of us in His own image. (Genesis 1:26-27). And yes, we inherited the traits of our Heavenly Father.
- We share the same God-given spiritual DNA … and CREATIVITY.
- Therefore, OUR words have creative power. We can say words that bring
peace or division; that either encourage and build people up, or tear them down emotionally. The creative choice is all ours, because “The tongue has the power of life and death….” (Proverbs 18:21 NIV)
Speaking positive words of faith produces a ripple effect that helps shape our social and emotional environment. When we refuse to gossip about or badmouth our “friends,” we’re doing our part to break the cycle of negativity (the destroyer of dreams, the killer of creativity). After all, change must start with each of us. Besides, we creators and dreamers should never waste our precious time and emotional energy criticizing others, spouting words of death and despair, or complaining about things over which we have no control. We have better things to do.
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Successful people,” according to Jack Canfield, founder of the Chicken Soup for the Soul book franchise, “are conscious of the thoughts they think and the words they speak – both about themselves and others. They know that words are powerful.” This best-selling author and leading success coach goes on to state, “Words can destroy relationships, lose sales and start wars. Words can just as easily be used to build self-esteem and self-confidence, nurture relationships and turn dreams into reality. …Before you speak, think about what you want to create … and choose your words accordingly.”
JOIN US TOMORROW FOR PART 2
Now, with human effort, we can accomplish stuff … on our own … in our own strength, in our own way and timing. But if we act independently of God, we’ll never fulfill His perfect will and divine purpose for our lives. Hence, we’ll never get to see just how amazing things would have turned out — if we’d allowed God to be the architect and builder of our dreams and artistic endeavors. And we’ll never realize the incredible heights of achievement or see all the wonderful places God wanted to take us — because we refused to let Him drive! And navigate us through the road of life.
The act of “Abiding in the Lord” doesn’t simply happen. It’s a discipline, expressed by one’s attitude and actions, which must be sought and developed. We begin by believing in God’s Word and His promises; by entrusting Him with our lives, as well as our hopes and dreams; and by banking on His infinite love, mercy, and faithfulness. Then, instead of focusing on the problems and challenges of life, we must keep our focus on God’s Divine nature and character, and His ability and willingness to meet each and every need — always remembering that “God has said, ‘I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.'” (Hebrews 13:5 NLT)