Word

The power of words has been on my mind for weeks now. Proverbs 18:21 says,

"Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
and those who love it will eat its fruits."

With our words we can bring life or death. I've seen it. I've felt it. I know what it is to be built up, to be offered life through the spoken and written word. I also know what it is to be torn down by them.

We are all given this power, this gift, this weapon. With great power comes great responsibility. Proverbs 12:18 says,

"There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts,
but the tongue of the wise brings healing."

We can either use words as a weapon to destroy life, or as medicine to restore it. It's a choice. There is great power in words to impact life. How will we use them?

This is nothing new. In fact, it's as old as creation. God used words to bring all things into existence, to lay the foundations of everything we know. Take a look at the beginning:

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep...And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light."
Genesis 1:1-2a, 3

God created by means of speech. There was darkness, lack of light, so he said 'Let there be light,' and there was. That's how powerful words are. God created something out of nothing using only His words. He continues to create, forming water, land, sky, vegetation, the sun, moon and stars, seasons, time, all creatures, including man, by speaking.

"And God said..." Genesis 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26.

How interesting that this is the first glimpse we are given of our Creator. What does God do next? He blesses man and woman.

"And God blessed them. And God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'"
Genesis 1:28

Take a closer look. This is a record of the first thing God says to Adam and Eve: a blessing. Life! Be fruitful and multiply, bring life and continue His work.

John 1 mirrors Genesis 1.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men...And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."
John 1:1-4, 14

Jesus is the Word. Let that sink in a minute.

He was in the beginning.

Through Him all things were created.

In Him is life.

He became flesh and dwelt among us.

The living Word, come to bring life to a dying race.

For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. Colossians 1:19

Words are heavy. Powerful. Full of life. Or full of death. Jesus came so that we might have abundant life:

"I came that they may have life and have it abundantly."
John 10:10

Being made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), we too are given words; let us use them also in His image, to bring life.