“It is wonderful to say the right thing at the right time.” Proverbs 15:23 NLT
“Your own testimony creates a narrative telling the story of your life – past, present, and future.”
My thoughts today announce “this is your life!”
An author takes an idea, turns his idea into words and with those words can create a new world for both the writer and reader, taking minds and imaginations to places they’ve never before been, while creating a sense of adventure not otherwise experienced.
As a young teen, I found a world of adventure in literature, among which was Robert Louis Stevenson‘s Treasure Island, about Long John Silver and “a treasure map, pirates and buried gold.” I was captured by Charles Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities, whose opening became the classic lines, “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times,” and his novel about the French Revolution closed with the cryptic words of Sydney Carton nobly giving his life to save another’s, “It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known.”
Words hold the power to create a world of historical fact or wondrous imagination in many ways – in a well-written book, unforgettable melody and lyrics, captivating movie, riveting speech, or passionate sermon. Yesterday, I wrote about an idea that continues to intrigue me: “Words create worlds.” I am interested in how such a true, Biblical principle works in yours and my everyday life.
It all began with a word. “God said, ‘Let there be . . and there was’. . By faith, we understand that worlds were framed by the word of God . . In the beginning was the Word . . all things were made by Him!” See Genesis 1/Hebrews 12:3 NKJV/John 1:1-3 NKJV. Abraham discovered God “Who gives life to the dead and calls those things that are not as though they were.” And he believed and confessed, and his faith was counted as righteousness. Read Romans 4:17-21 NIV.
That, in a lesser but real measure, is a God-given potential in you as well, a dynamic of everyday life. Your own testimony creates a narrative telling the accurate or inaccurate story of your life – past, present, and future. Words spoken with conviction affirm your potential in God, or can confirm your disbelief of what God believes and says about you. Your world is daily shaped by how you translate events currently impacting you, as well as conclusions you’ve assumed from circumstances long before. Your world would be better shaped by speaking God’s words to you and about you. “It is wonderful to say the right thing at the right time.” Proverbs 15:23 NLT.
What you say to yourself – self-talk, psychologists call this – and what you say to others about yourself subtly influences who you believe you are and the measure of what you believe you can do and become. Your words merely confirm your belief of thoughts that elevate or demean, then reinforcing emotions helpful or unhealthy. By voicing again and again what you think to be true but isn’t, you could allow your wrong perceptions to become assumed realities. When you truthfully affirm your strengths, abilities, and successes, you gradually grow in them. If you continually bemoan your shortcomings, weaknesses, or failures without taking real steps to change and grow, you will persistently self-destruct, however slowly. See James 3:9-10 NIV.
So how do you form a better world in which to live each day? The life you create starts with feelings such as hope, trust, and joy, or worry, doubt, and fear. The first edify and strengthen; the latter dishearten and weaken; you hold the power to choose between those – power to change every day and shape tomorrow.
My prayer for you today is that you respect the inherent power of God in your words.