Life and Death in the Tongue

On this episode of the Authentic Marriage Podcast, hosts Shawn and Lauren, along with Chris and Brooke, discuss the power of our words and the impact they have on our marriages, families, and everyday relationships.

Drawing from Proverbs 18:21, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue," the hosts explore how our words are like seeds. Every conversation, encouragement, criticism, or affirmation has the potential to produce fruit. The question is: what are we planting?

The conversation highlights the importance of intentionally speaking life over our spouses. Whether through encouragement, gratitude, or words of affirmation, our speech has the power to build up rather than tear down. Sometimes speaking life means declaring God's truth over a situation, even before we see the outcome we desire.

Shawn, Lauren, Chris, and Brooke also discuss James 3:5-6, which reminds us of the incredible influence of the tongue. Because our words carry power, it is essential that they are rooted in God's truth rather than emotions, frustrations, or circumstances.

The hosts emphasize that in order to speak truth, we must first know the Truth. As we spend time in God's Word, we learn His heart, His promises, and His perspective. When Scripture fills our hearts, life-giving words naturally begin to flow from our mouths.

This episode encourages listeners to be intentional with their words, speak life over their spouse and family, and use their tongue as a tool to encourage, strengthen, and reflect Christ in every relationship.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:01

Welcome back to Love for Lifetime's Authentic Marriage Podcast. We're Chris and Brooke there, Sean and Lauren. We're glad you're watching. So it's uh it's summertime, but uh yesterday we actually were moving Christmas decorations, guys.

SPEAKER_01 0:16

Yeah, good friends to us.

SPEAKER_05 0:21

This is what we talk about in community.

SPEAKER_01 0:24

This is what you really want them.

SPEAKER_04 0:27

Yeah, and the Christmas summer heat, we were moving Christmas and heavy furniture as well.

SPEAKER_05 0:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 0:33

Heavy furniture as well.

SPEAKER_05 0:34

God caught learned to organize this year, and so you guys are part of that. Thank you.

SPEAKER_04 0:41

I do, I do have to say though, I've I've been uh earlier this year I was struggling with some shoulder issues, but uh uh I actually feel very good today. That's amazing. It's awesome. There's much, much better. So I was, you know, maybe concerned going into yesterday, but I feel very good today.

SPEAKER_00 0:57

Wow. And I feel like we should clarify we're not just talking like this is somebody's house of Christmas decorations. This was from Festival of Trees, where it was the entire venue and property was covered in Christmas decorations that all got shoved into spaces at the end of the event back around Thanksgiving. So all of that had to be packed and moved to a proper storage unit. And it wasn't just like your tree that was still up or something in the holidays.

SPEAKER_01 1:21

It was a major undertaking Christmas stuff here that we'll have to figure out. Well, you have a car.

SPEAKER_05 1:39

It is a flavor of love, yes. How does this translate to the I want to make sure you didn't forget, you know?

SPEAKER_01 2:06

At this point, we're done.

SPEAKER_04 2:12

Well today you said you wanted to talk about the power of the tongue.

SPEAKER_02 2:17

Yes. Power of our words.

SPEAKER_04 2:19

Power of our words. So I do appreciate the thank you. I know that's sincere.

SPEAKER_02 2:22

Yes, I used powerful words right there. Um yeah, no, we definitely want to talk about the power of the tongue. It's so um, it is a topic that is so important and and not talked about enough, I think. Um we we just in our culture, the enemy has got us um saying words that are just they're like part of life and and they're not life-giving, they're words of death, and we don't realize how quickly we speak words of death because a lot of it's just the enemy's got us in our culture. Um, and so um words are not neutral, um, they're very powerful, and they they have um they either are planting life or they're planting destruction. In Proverbs 18, 21, it says, Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit. That is huge. Death and life.

SPEAKER_03 3:23

It's not death, um gray area, life, gray area, life.

SPEAKER_02 3:28

It's death and life. So it's either one or the other. Um, so this means that every word we speak is like a seed, and a lot in the Bible you'll see that seeds are used. Um uh and eventually um you'll eat the harvest of what you've been saying for so long. Um, over time, your words help shape what you experience. So, you know, you're really not just talking. When you're talking, you're planting. You're either planting seeds of death or you're planting seeds of life. So, you know, words spoken in faith produce life, but words spoken in fear produce destruction. Um, and it's important, like God spoke the world into existence. When Jesus was here, he did a lot of speaking, and and one just showing you like he spoke to the fig tree, and the very next day it died, and and it never produced fruit again. Like, and he is an example for us, and we we have we we are made in his image. So, what we speak is so important, you know. Psalm 33 9 says, For he spoke and it came to be, he commanded and it stood firm. Um, Psalm 33, six, by the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all of their hosts. And you know, we are made in the image of God. God has clearly said to us over and over how important words are, and and there's so much scripture about that. Um, they don't just communicate, they actually create direction in our lives. Um, and we need to, Sean and I have been very, you know, as we've gotten into understanding and God has given us more revelation of his word and and um through our Bible college and learning how important what we speak, we have literally had to stop ourselves and rebuked even what has come out of our mouth because we are so um used to speaking um words that are death, you know, and we've had to be like, whoa, no, I'm not gonna speak that.

SPEAKER_05 5:49

Like, um, you know, I'll give you an example of something I say a lot when the kids are frustrating me. I'm like, man, you guys are killing me, right? That's speaking death over myself. And I've started to catch myself now when I say things like that because I've been, you know, 50-some years of speaking death. And I didn't realize it and probably until this last year that I became really, really aware of the words that I that I'm speaking. And so when I talk to somebody that has cancer, I talk to somebody that's sick, I'll ask them, how's your healing coming? Because I do not want to speak any more death than the doctors or that other people have spoken over them, or friends will always, you know, in kindness, oh, how's your sickness? How's your cancer? Right. And it's just reiterating the fact and it's putting into their mind, I have cancer, I'm dying, right? And you want to keep those words out of your mouth, you know, and and we like to speak healing over one another. In fact, today I came in from moving yesterday, I said, Man, my hip is hurting. And Chris goes, No, you're just healing. And I was like, I appreciate that, you know.

SPEAKER_02 6:51

But a lot of, you know, even in like people speak stuff over their finances all the time, like I can never catch a break. I'm always, you know, I never have money, enough money in my account. Um, like we're speaking these things. If Jesus spoke things into existence and he tells us that what we say has the power to do the same, then why aren't we taking that seriously? Because the enemy has confused us so much and made us think, oh no, those are just those are just words. They don't really mean much, they don't mean a thing, you know, like it's okay.

SPEAKER_05 7:27

And I think if you, you know, if you mess up and you say something like, you know, oh, you tickle me to death, whatever, just something like that, doesn't mean that you believe it. But once you start to say things enough, it gets down into your spirit, it gets down into your soul that you believe this thing. I'm always broke, I'll never catch a break. You start to believe it and you start to live into those things.

SPEAKER_02 7:47

I mean, think about it. Faith comes from hearing, you know, faith and even the worst of things, too. You know?

SPEAKER_04 7:55

Yeah. I think you're right though, but the example you were mentioning earlier, the example that Jesus sets, because I was thinking about the story, the parable, not the parable, the story, and when he heals the paralytic man, they lower him down through the roof into the house on his mat. And Jesus' words, right? He says, What is it? Is it easier to say your sins are forgiven, or to stand up and walk? And Jesus says to them, Um, I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home. Um, and then I was in Acts earlier uh this morning, and you think about Jesus tells him to rise and walk. Well, early in Acts, you have um Peter walking by the beautiful gate, and there's uh there's a lame beggar there, and Peter says to him, he says, I have no silver and no gold, but what I do have I give to you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. Right? So you have that exact exact exact exact exact example that Jesus set, tells the man, rise up and walk. Peter follows that example, tells him to rise up and walk. So it's such a powerful, you get to see it. Right. Those words are so powerful.

SPEAKER_05 9:03

And and James speaks the other way about the tongue, right? He said it's this little this little spark that can light a forest fire, you know, and and how much evil, you know, comes from the tongue. And you know, we really have to be conscious about what we're saying. I love the story about Abraham. His name was originally Abram, and God told him he was going to be the father of nations when he didn't even have a child yet, and he was old. And he said, I'm changing your name to Abraham, which meant father of nations. Father, I think father of many nations. And so Abraham had to go around speaking when he talked to people and say, My name is Abraham. Although I don't have a son yet, I am the father of many nations. And what he spoke came to be by just even by saying his own name that God had given him. And I think that, you know, a lot of times, especially in healing, people say, Well, I don't feel healed. I don't feel that. But if you speak healing and you speak praise and you speak um faith in God in those moments, you're just speaking into existence. What God has already given us. He's given us authority over healing, he's given us authority over the enemy. You can we have so much power and dominion and authority over the enemy, and we don't use it. We can cast him off. We can we can say, get out of here, Satan. You know, what did Jesus say? Get behind me, Satan. You know, we have that same power and authority because Jesus said, You will do greater things than I did. Well, what did he do? He delivered people, he healed people, right? He did so and he said, You will do greater things than I did.

SPEAKER_02 10:36

And think about too how Satan came against Jesus. He was tempting him. How did Jesus respond? He used the word. So, you know, in our situations or whatever we're dealing with, speak the word. The word has power, you know. I know we talked about this earlier in our women's uh time frame, but the but the word says that you know it's sharper than any two-edged sword, that it goes and it um does, it accomplishes what it's supposed to. And so um, when you have situations in your life, instead of speaking death over them, instead of speaking the problem over them, speak what God says about the situation. Because God says that you are to reign as king. God says that you have all abundance, that you are not lacking anything. God's word says that you are healed by his stripes. God's word says that give and it will be given to you, pressed down, shaken together, pour running over, pouring into your lap. God says that he is for you, not against you. You need to learn his truths about you and the circumstance, because that's what you speak over your circumstance. You do not speak what the enemy is saying. He wants to speak that, he wants to reiterate that, he wants to play it in your mind over and over. He wants to get you to that point that you don't believe what the word says. And so, even if you don't in that moment, you're struggling because the circumstances are hard, choose to speak the word. And I I promise you, you will begin to see life. You will begin to see a harvest because right now, every time you're speaking death, you're producing a harvest of death, and you're gonna continue to see that harvest of death. But like Sean was saying, don't speak that over yourself, you know, like speak life and you will begin to see a harvest of life. It's, I mean, we've seen this throughout our our marriage, our family, our personal lives. And you know, we're we're saying we've uh we've done this in even the hard moments where it's hard to speak that because it's not what you're seeing, right? We're not seeing it in um our fleshly realm at the moment, you know, but faith is what the things hope for, the things unseen. And and that's where we're supposed to have that faith to believe, like if God's word says it, it's true, and I can stand on it, though I don't see it yet.

SPEAKER_04 13:14

Yeah, I like it. So like the idea of programming. I think Luke 6, 45, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. And and and sometimes it's the mouth is speaking so you can convince your heart, right? And it's like reprogramming and saying it again. I think about a lot of the psalms where where David is, you know, he feels you know attacked. And and eventually when he comes to the end of many of those psalms, he turns and he is praising God for the victory he knows is coming. Right. David is praising God for the victory he knows he's going because his faith is so assured.

SPEAKER_05 13:48

Yeah, that he believes what God said, and he's gonna speak what God said.

SPEAKER_03 13:53

Yes, and I love that.

SPEAKER_05 13:55

And and David was called a man after God's own heart, and he it's not that he didn't have struggles, it's not that he didn't have difficulties, and not that he didn't put himself in some terrible situations, but you know, he was quick to repent, speak to God, ask for forgiveness, and he was he was quick to praise.

SPEAKER_04 14:13

Yeah, I think thinking about the importance of your tongue, what you say and what it does in your life, and think about your marriage as well, right? What is the impact on your marriage and what people may say uh about their spouse? I think Brooke, uh a podcast or two ago, I think you talked about this. I think you referenced a lady um who had some friends who didn't speak well of their husbands, and I don't know if you can share that again.

SPEAKER_00 14:38

Yeah, just that the husband knew when she came home when you know that evening, he could tell who she had been hanging out with that day because of how she treated him. Because the women she was hanging out with did not enjoy their marriages, were not in happy marriages, were not respectful to their husbands. So she would be around them for lunch or whatever and come home and she would treat her husband poorly because of who she had been around, and it was how they were speaking. And I know Lauren, you and I have talked about just the importance of um lifting up our husbands when, well, certainly when you're with us, but behind your backs, maybe even more so, or as much so you know, just make sure that you're building them up and and speaking well of them. And sometimes I think it's even speaking what you want to be as if it were true. And honestly, we learned that that premise years ago when we were in college. We actually got involved with Amway, which I don't know if you're familiar with, but we did, and I'm so thankful for the years that we it was a few years we were part of that, but we learned so many valuable things from because they at the time based Christian basis to the organization, and just this was one of those things was be careful what you speak and speak what you want. Um and and that just aligns with everything we're talking about. Um, the other thing that you said that I want to point out is you said speak, speak out loud and tell the enemy, you know, you speak scripture, the enemy can't read our minds, and it's so important that we actually verbalize what if you want to tell the enemy to go, to flee, to get out of my brain, get out of my house, you have to actually say it because he can't read our minds. God knows what we think, but the enemy doesn't know. And that's something I've really just started to understand in recent years, and it's very helpful. Like you have to declare it and claim it, and literally the words have to come out of your mouth to tell him to go, because otherwise he doesn't know what you're thinking. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 16:32

So well, and that's you're given your authority, our authority given to us by Christ through Christ, the power of our words have more power than we even recognize. Oh, yes, you know, and he's he's given us back that authority that Adam gave away. We get it back now. So we don't have to be afraid, we don't have to fear, we can we can use God's, it says that God's word is a sword. That is our weapon against the enemy, and you can pierce him. And I love that.

SPEAKER_02 17:02

I um I shared this with you when we weren't on camera, but um, and I I just think this was so good this morning um in our Bible college about um how when we become believers, we switch over to a new kingdom, we switch over to God's kingdom, and God's kingdom operates very differently from the world's kingdom. And so um the guy we were listening to this morning, he said, you know, when he got to London, it was his first time to London, he he got out and he needed to go and um he wanted to go buy a coffee. So he went up to the counter and they were like, Well, we only take it in pounds. And he was like, Well, I only have dollars, like I only have American cash. And they were like, Well, we're not gonna take that, sir. We only take pounds. So we had to go get the new currency. And and then he went to go get the car that he was renting, and he was like, The steering wheel's on the wrong side. I need, I need it on the other side. And they were like, Well, sir, that's how we we have it here. You're not gonna get it any other way. And then he gets out on the road and he starts driving, and he's like, I'm going against traffic, like this, you know, like you guys.

SPEAKER_03 18:08

Or you were driving on the wrong side of the road.

SPEAKER_02 18:10

And uh, and he was like, he, he had to, you know, it was their kingdom, and he had to go by the rules of that kingdom. And so he said, you know, in our spiritual life, when we pass over from life to death or from uh death to life, we now are in the king, the spiritual kingdom of God's kingdom, and so we operate very differently. So, like when somebody offends you in the worldly kingdom, if they hit you and they offend you, then you hit them back. But in God's kingdom, you turn the other cheek. And he was saying, if like, you know, uh, you know, in the world you're trying to get as much as you can. In God's kingdom, you're trying to give as much as you can. And the same is true with your words. In in the worldly kingdom, we speak um flippantly words of death and destruction, but in God's kingdom, we speak life and we think before we speak, and we and we um are careful with our words, and we allow the Lord to speak through our mouths. And so it's just I loved what he said because if you really think about that, we are operating totally different because we are now in a new kingdom, um, and we operate by different rules, and biblically, there is a different rule for how we speak when we are now in this kingdom, and it's important, you know.

SPEAKER_05 19:43

Um and I think these, you know, when we when we take this back to marriage, how do we speak over our spouse? You know, are we are we critical? Are we demeaning? Are we harsh? Or or do we speak life? Do we speak encouragement? Do we lift up? And I think we have to really take those things into consideration and be willing to have your spouse say, Hey, you're not speaking life over me. It'll you'll recognize it, you know, you it may be habitual, you'll recognize it and start to be more aware of it. I think that that's a really crucial part. Don't say things like you always do this, or you you never do these things, or that's not truth. And and when you you're not speaking God's word, you're not speaking truth. So I just would encourage you to really start to take account of what you say. Um, even when you say things like, oh, you're killing me, or all those things. You will eventually start to believe those when you say them enough. And it will, you know, the fruit you get from that will not be what you want.

SPEAKER_00 20:45

And I think allow um the grace to let your spouse point that out. I think once we're in a habit of treating each other a certain way, we might not realize that we're doing it and it can just be our default. And if we truly don't want to continue in that, then I mean Chris is going to be the best one to point out to me when I'm doing something that's seeming disrespectful to him. Or so, but to allow him to do that and try not to get defensive or put off because if if I want to to edify him and bring him up, then I need to be able to receive that so I can change it. Because I might not notice, I might be on autopilot, like you said, not thinking before I speak. And um, who else can point that out to me besides the Holy Spirit?

SPEAKER_04 21:28

You I think a funny example in our marriages is you pointed out to me that you'd have an idea, and my default response often was, well, that's not a bad idea. And I don't know why I said it that way, but for some reason my default response would be, Well, that's not a bad idea.

SPEAKER_00 21:45

And I would take it as, oh, he's kind of surprised I actually have a good idea. Like it was a little thing, but that's how I felt every single time. And I pointed that out to you just a couple few months ago. He has been amazing now, but every single time. Actually, you didn't earlier. Everything called yourself, but it'll say, that's a good idea. You know, that's not a bad idea, but that's a good idea. And it's just a subtle thing, but it makes me actually feel well. That's what I meant.

SPEAKER_04 22:12

I meant it was a good idea. I was just not. But it came out as a negative.

SPEAKER_00 22:16

So I felt it as a negative, and I'm a words person. Yeah. So for me, I think that was probably extra um not hurtful. That's a strong word, but wasn't building me up.

SPEAKER_02 22:25

Yeah, not building you up because you change the dynamic of your home, your room. I I was thinking, um, I looked it up. Matthew 12 36 says, But I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. Every idle word, every idle word. So it's not, do not be flippant about what you say. You know, I mean, listen, we're still all a work in progress, and we still catch ourselves a lot of the times.

SPEAKER_05 22:55

But catching yourself is the start of recognizing how we do speak or how we've been trained to speak in our culture. And we can start to speak that way around the people around us that they might say, gosh, the words they speak, I feel so good around them because they're speaking life, right? And we're planting seeds of life to people. And it may take time to harvest, it may take time, but you do reap what you sow, you know. And I have been a death speaker most of my life and not realized it. And um now I'm recognizing it, and and it's good that I'm recognizing it now because I get to teach my children those things. You know, even things like God, you're a bad kid sometimes, or things like that, right? You can just say, right, instead of, hey, your behavior is not good right now, or is it we need to work on that, it's you're just a bad kid. And some people will just default to that because that's how they were taught to, or that's what they know.

SPEAKER_02 23:52

Or a kid was spoken over, oh, you're just rebellious. Oh, you're just rebellious, you just a rebellious child. Well, eventually you start to see that child is has believed what you have told them. You have you have planted this seed in them that they are rebellious, and they and it really does affect them. So we it is a seed and it will reap a harvest, whether you like it or not, you will see it and it will be not a good harvest at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_04 24:21

That's kind of interesting because a couple of months ago we we visited some old friends that we hadn't seen in probably 15 years, and and he was talking about he had to reprogram his mind around this uh because he was always speaking, he would say things to him about, well, that was stupid, that was silly, why'd you do that, you idiot? And he was always speaking this death over himself, and he had to go back and think through his history, and he had a period in his childhood when his father would always kind of say something, well, that would say to him, Well, that was dumb, why'd you do that? Well, I was dumb, why'd you do that? And that programmed his mind and he carried that into adulthood. And then he had to work on reprogramming it, but just kind of listening to you talk about it brought that story back that we we talked to someone very recently who shared that story that you know, you know, from from something his father you just offhandedly would say when he when he did something silly, it was like, well, that was you know, and it but it built this recurring thought in his mind.

SPEAKER_05 25:19

And there are things that we we say that we don't mean harm by them, no, but the words themselves are speaking deaf. You know, we don't mean, oh, you kids are literally killing me. Yeah, but as I start to get stressed, and as I start to get those things, and I continue to say that, I don't want to have a heart attack, I don't want to do those things, right? I don't want to get that amped up.

SPEAKER_04 25:39

And um it's a strong scripture, Lauren. That one you just brought up, right? Give account to every idle word.

SPEAKER_02 25:45

Yeah, you know, in James 3, 5 through 6, the tongue is small, but it sets the course of your life. That's big. Like, like it really does set the course of your life. Um and and I think people, you know, think, oh no, no, that's but I if you were to think about things that have been spoken over you or things that you have said over and over, has it happened? And more than likely it has, and you've seen the harvest of it. If you really are to take in account, you will see that it is it's it's that's why it's such an important aspect that I think the enemy has done a really good job of making it not important just has. So, you know, I would say, you know, I think it would be important to maybe have a challenge for yourself, maybe a seven-day challenge. I remember when we were in a season of complaining, um, and we we challenged ourselves to every time we wanted to complain, we would we would actually like say something good or we would stop complaining, you know, and it was difficult. You have to retrain yourself, right? You and God can help you, He is our helper, right? And even now, what we do too is if we find that we're complaining now, we're like, what are three things that you're grateful for?

SPEAKER_05 27:12

No, we do five. Three would be nice.

SPEAKER_02 27:14

You're right, we do five. Um, I've wanted it to be three at times because I'm like, I don't want to say anymore. I'm really frustrated, you know. But um, but like, you know, maybe maybe just challenging yourselves to speak three intentional affirmations over your spouse daily. Um, when a negative thought or word comes to mind, replace it with a positive one. Um, in that moment when you feel like you want to, you know, you're struggling with something, go to the word and see what it says about your situation and speak that. Just continue to speak that until you believe it in your heart.

SPEAKER_00 27:56

You one thing I've heard is that like I used to I play piano-ish, but I used to more so. I do, but I when I was taking it in college, um, every time you hit a note wrong, for every one time, you had to do it seven times right to correct. So just thinking about our words for every one time wrong to current correct that in our brains, or what like seven times right, possibly to say something positive or or change that to a positive. That's a lot of correction for one. I think I'd rather think before I speak.

SPEAKER_05 28:29

I think they say there's some like three days to create a habit.

SPEAKER_00 28:33

21.

SPEAKER_05 28:34

21 to break it.

SPEAKER_00 28:36

I thought it was 21 to start a habit.

SPEAKER_05 28:38

I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 28:38

I it takes a long time for me to start a 10 habit.

SPEAKER_05 28:41

I I have the numbers wrong, but it's a small time to create a habit. To break a habit takes, I don't know how many times, 10 times.

SPEAKER_00 28:51

It depends on the kind of habit. Yeah, actually. I think there's some that might be easy to start in three days, and others so much.

SPEAKER_05 28:59

And maybe I'm just speaking out of the world, what the world says, that I know there's a difference between between creating a habit and breaking one is a lot different. The battle's in your mind.

SPEAKER_02 29:09

Yeah, I was gonna say, I have started to really somebody encouraged me from Bible study to say, I have the mind of Christ Jesus, because believe that's scriptural. I have the mind of Christ Jesus, I have the mind of Christ Jesus, and the more because how does he think? You know, every word that he spoke was life-giving, you know. Yes, so I have the mind of Christ Jesus, and and eventually, you know, that will be because it is, it starts in the mind too, right? And the enemy, he he attacks you through your mind, yeah, it all starts there, right? And then we believe it. And you know, God showed me something that there's rules to the kingdom, and it says, believe that you have received and it will be done. Well, God said, Well, people can believe the wrong thing and they can receive and it will be done because it's a kingdom rule, regardless. It's not just He wants you to believe that you have received what He has said is true, but you can also believe and receive what the enemy has said as truth, and that will be done. And God revealed that to me the other day, and I was like, whoa, like that is these are just kingdom rules. It's it that's how it operates, you know.

SPEAKER_05 30:28

And um we have to be careful too, because people say, Well, it's God's will, whether that happens or not. And you have to be really careful with God's will, because God also says, It is not my will that any should perish. But do people perish? Absolutely. Are people sent to hell? Absolutely, right? It's not his will for that to happen. So we do have some accountability to the things and the rules that he has in place. You know, the Bible is either a blessing or a curse. The word is either a blessing or a curse. If you follow it, it's a blessing. If you stray from it or go away from it or do anything, now it's a curse. Either way, the word is truth. Whether you believe it, it's truth. And if you don't, you're cursed. And that's what the word says. So we have to be very careful in just saying, Oh, this is God's will, and he's some distant God. He's given us power, he's given us authority, he's given us Christ. And when you're born again, you are a new creation. You have the spirit of God in you, the full spirit of God, not a baby spirit, not one that's growing and maturing. You have God's full spirit in you. We just don't access it. We don't we don't know how to access it, you know. Um we have to know the word, and we have to then understand, hear, and believe the word before we're able to access some of the truths in there. Because some of them seem far out.

SPEAKER_02 31:52

Well, the Lord Jesus said, Um, what's the scripture and the truth will set you know the truth is it know the truth and the truth will set you free?

SPEAKER_05 32:01

Um oh man, why are you testing me?

SPEAKER_02 32:03

I'm sorry, I know because I'm like, yeah, I know that one too.

SPEAKER_00 32:06

I'm gonna look it up so we can be real on it.

SPEAKER_04 32:09

You want to hit that one very correctly.

SPEAKER_00 32:11

But Sean, from what you're saying, I think the important thing too there is we have to know our God. Correct. To know the word, and that's how we know our God. If you're gonna say this is God's will, well, make sure you know who God is before you declare that something is his will, right?

SPEAKER_04 32:25

That's a really good point. Makes it means you gotta be in the word daily, right?

SPEAKER_05 32:28

You gotta be looking at it. And how much have we believed that has just been told to us? How much have we believed without getting in this word? Well, the Bible says money is the root of all evil. No, it doesn't.

SPEAKER_03 32:40

No, you're right.

SPEAKER_05 32:40

The love of money is the root of all evil, and that's a good point. Those little things, those little words really are big, are big.

SPEAKER_02 32:49

Well, this is the one of the biggest ploys of the enemy is to just change the word a little. And he did that with Eve. Right. He did that with Eve. And he and he started from the beginning. So and he's and he's he knows that that's a way to get uh, you know, us is just to alter it just a little bit, and then we're like, oh, maybe yeah, you're right. God didn't, John did say that, or he didn't say that, you know. The scripture I'm referring to is um, so Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, if you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. This is John 8, 31 through 32. I mean, that's a huge statement, and the Lord has really shown me the reason that so many people are in bondage is because they don't know the word. They don't know the truth, and they bel they, and like Sean was saying, they're they have been twisted by the word because the enemy has come in, or you've listened to somebody who really wasn't preaching the full word or distorted the word somehow, or um, and and you know, we should take even every every you know message we hear and stuff, we should also go to the source and make sure that it's right, and not just take every word that you hear and say that it's truth. That the word is truth, the Bible is truth, but when it's spoken from um a person, it can, and the enemy can use it to become altered. Um, but it's I mean, I think that's such a true statement that if we really know who God is, if we really understand his truth, we will be free. We can totally walk in full victory because we, I mean, and that's what God wants for us. He wants us to have abundance here, he wants us to have an incredible life here, not just in heaven, he wants it for us here.

SPEAKER_05 34:54

And people will take that and think prosperity, money, but it's health, it's deliverance, it's finances, it's a lot of different things that he set us free from the bondage of. He did not set us free to be in bondage. Yeah, that doesn't make any sense.

SPEAKER_02 35:10

He delivered us from all of these things and sin and and having you know salvation is just part of it. It's not the full what he you know delivered us.

SPEAKER_05 35:22

He delivered us from so much more than just Hosea 4.6 states um my people are destroyed for knack of lack of knowledge. My people are destroyed. Lack of knowledge. And the enemy comes to kill, steal, and destroy. So if he can take away your knowledge or if he can twist the truth just a little bit, the people are destroyed.

SPEAKER_02 35:44

We see that all around us, don't we? We see it all the time. Yeah, we do.

SPEAKER_04 35:48

Well, I think we're about out of time. So, Lauren, do you want to go ahead and pray for us?

SPEAKER_02 35:52

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 35:53

Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 35:56

All right, Lord, thank you so much for your word, that it is truth, that it um, man, these are such truths that Lord, you have been revealing to us and that you continue to reveal because Lord, you want us to know who you truly are and who we truly are in you. Father, you want us to walk in full victory every single minute of every single day. You want us to have a life of abundance. You are a God of increase, and that's what you want in our life. And Father, you want good for us. And so, Father, I pray for anybody who is listening, who has any skewed view of you, Father, that Lord, I just plead the blood of Jesus over that skewed view. Lord, that they begin to, if they have blinders on or deception of the enemy, Lord, I plead the blood of Jesus all over that, Father. And I ask, Father, that you give them revelation of who you are. Lord, we ask for wisdom for every person that is listening to this. Lord, you say to ask for wisdom and you give generously. Lord, give them wisdom in who you are, Father. Lord, would you become so real in their lives? Would you show each and every person who's listening how much you love them every single day, that they begin to see how much you truly love them, Father, and that there are no strings attached to that love, Father. You loved us before we ever loved you. It is not like human love. It is so different, Father. And so, Lord, help us to grasp the love that you have for us, and out of that love flows all of the things that you've given us and the deliverance of all of these things. And Lord, um, I just, I just pray that you help us in controlling our tongue. Father, that you help us to speak words of life and not of death. Lord, that you help us to, when we want to say something, Lord, that you shut our mouths, that you put the tongue of our roof, that you put the tongue to the roof of our mouth. There's a scripture about that, about putting it to the to the roof of our mouth, that you won't let us speak those words that that produce death, that the enemy wants to come out of our mouth. That Lord, we become a people that only speak life and we change the course of our families, we change the course of our marriages, we change the course of the world around us by the words we speak. Lord, let us let our words have so much power and kingdom impact, Father. Lord, we thank you that you are a helper and that when we ask, you come to our rescue, you help us in every way possible. We love you in Jesus' name. Amen.

SPEAKER_04 38:48

Amen. Thank you, Lauren. Well, this is uh Love for Lifetimes Authentic Marriage Podcast. I'm Chris. This is my wife, Brooke, there, Sean and Lauren. Uh, we hope you enjoyed our discussion. We're looking forward to seeing you next time.