Listen carefully, my dear child, to everything that I teach you, and pay attention to all that I have to say. fill your thoughts with my words until they penetrate deep into your spirit. Then, as you unwrap my words, they will impart true life and radiant health into the very core of your being. So above all, guard the affections of your heart, for they affect all that you are. Pay attention to the welfare of your innermost being, for from there flows the wellspring of life. Avoid dishonest speech and pretentious words. Be free from using perverse words no matter what! - Proverbs 4:20-24 TPT
I have spoken for years about the importance of words, and I love these verses because they reveal just how important words are. They reveal, words are what fill our thoughts and they can penetrate deep into our spirits. Words impart, affect our heart, affect all that we are, and as a result determines the welfare of our innermost being. Our innermost being is where the Holy Spirit resides and from there flows the wellspring of life. They go on to instruct us to avoid dishonest speech, pretentious words, and perverse words no matter what!
There is a great promise to each of us from God, when he tells us, his dear children, to listen carefully to his teaching and to pay attention to all that he has to say. His promise is that he speaks to each and every one of his children. His words, spoken directly to each one personally, is teaching, imparting true life and radiant health. His words, spoken to us individually, affect all that we are and will flow the wellspring of life. But only if we listen, pay attention, fill our thoughts, unwrap, and guard our hearts with his words!
"My words" or God's words, not yours! How often is it we find ourselves talking to God with our own words, with our own thoughts and solutions. Think about it, if we are in need of help, and find ourselves coming to the Father asking for his help, why aren't we listening? Why aren't we paying attention? Why are we filling our thoughts with our own words? Why aren't we unwrapping what the Father has to say? Why aren't we guarding our hearts with his words? And honestly, even when we do hear what the Father has to say, how often do we question if it is him talking or find ourselves not trusting in his guidance, and in the end doing things our own way? If this is the case, why are we even praying at all? Why pray? Our own words can rule over us when we believe them. They can overcome us and we can become our own lord. When we allow our own thoughts to penetrate our hearts, the welfare of our innermost being can become ruled by them.
The battle is with words, and ultimately who's words are you listening to, meditating on and allowing to penetrate your heart? The words we believe penetrate the heart and out of our hearts we speak. James 3:1-12 speaks on the power of our words. When we speak we release power into whatever we are speaking on or about. We empower through our own words when we believe what we are speaking. So why don't we take more consideration to what we allow out of our mouths? An even better question, why are we not paying more attention to our thoughts? Because our thoughts are what penetrate our heart and what we ultimately speak. James 3:2-5 (TPT) says, "We all fail in many areas, but especially with our words. Yet if we're able to bridle the words we say we are powerful enough to control ourselves in every way, and that means our character is mature and fully developed. Horses have bits and bridles in their mouths so that we can control and guide their large body. And the same with mighty ships, though they are massive and driven by fierce winds, yet they are steered by a tiny rudder at the direction of the person at the helm. And so the tongue is a small part of the body yet it carries great power!"
Who is the person at the helm? I would personally like to answer, Jesus is at my helm! Knowing words carry such great power, I am keenly aware of my thoughts and words, but more importantly, I try to be more keenly aware of God's words. We are human and as humans we have thoughts, which create feelings and emotions. We all have thousands upon thousands of words spoken to us, at us, in us and through us in any given day. It is what we do with those words that matter. We can not control what comes out of others mouths, but we can control what comes out of our own and what we listen to as well. More importantly, we can control the words we allow to penetrate our hearts! We are in control and no one can influence our heart but ourselves. We can not allow our thoughts, feelings and emotions to control us. We are to take every thought captive, 2 Corinthians 10:5 (AMP) says, "We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ."
God's words impart true life and radiant health to the very core of our being! Jesus is The Word, and we are in union with Jesus. This means we have The Word living within our inner most being and out of it flows the wellspring of life. Everything we could possibly need lives within us, because we are one with Jesus, as Jesus is one with the Father. So, pay attention to the welfare of your inner most being, because out of it flows life or is it something else that is flowing from yours? Be mindful, be accountable, be keenly aware of your words. Make certain you are listening, paying attention, filling your thoughts, unwrapping, and guarding your hearts with God's words! We are manifesting the world we live in with every word we believe and speak!
Oh, and don't forget to avoid dishonest speech and pretentious words. Be free from using perverse words no matter what!