Episode 128: The Power of Words

Do the words you speak matter? The Bible tells us that life and death are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21). Are you speaking life? Sometimes we use words and phrases that we don’t know what they mean or we don’t think about what they mean. For example, do you tell your friends “good luck” before a test? Things such as luck, charms, and “knocking on wood” are not Biblical. We have to think about the words we say because our words have a big impact.

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Transcript

Rethinking "Good Luck" Text

Challenging Common Superstitions

Resetting Language Toward Faith

Share, Review, And Connect

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Do the words we speak matter? That's a question for you today on the Giving Your Best Life podcast. And I know they do. The Bible tells us that the words that we speak matter. We see various uh verses in the Bible on the words that we speak. Um, if we look at Matthew 12, 34, it says, For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. If we think about the words and what they carry, the weight that they carry, if we look at Proverbs 18, 21, it says the tongue has the power of life and death. And that doesn't mean necessarily like life and death, but it does mean our words influence us, influences others, it influences our direction, our mindset. Um, and like I said, it influences other people. Um, think about when somebody says something to you, how if it's good or bad, do you feel that? Um, do you feel the goodness when somebody gives you a compliment? Or do you feel when somebody puts you down? Words matter that we speak. But why I want to talk about this this week is something really hit me this week when I was texting my nephew. So he is in high school and he is a pitcher, and he is like in baseball season. And I used to always send him good luck, like you know, the day of his game before the game, like, hey, good luck today. And I was really convicted of sending that to him, and so this was the message that I sent him. Hello, I'm really trying not to use good luck anymore because luck isn't from God. You don't need luck. You've done the hard work, and as always, you will show up and do your best. That's all we can ask for. Love you because I got to thinking the Bible doesn't say anything about luck. So why are we talking about that? That implies that outcome is random, you know, and it's not dependent on God, that everything in our life is just a chance. And we know that. We know that God is sovereign, um, and God isn't about luck. Also, then, as I was preparing for today, I started to think about what are other phrases that we just say and maybe we don't think about. So for me, I actually almost text this to uh my assistant because I was having trouble recording podcasts and the first one didn't go, the second one didn't go, and I almost text her third time's a charm. And again, it hit me that word charm. Again, it's not rooted in what the Bible says. That's rooted again, going back to luck or fortune thinking. Um, and I don't know, I just like it just struck me. I was very convicted of that. And so then I got to thinking about like what is something else that we say. Now, this one I've really been trying not to say because um a while ago I was convicted on it, but it's still so ingrained in me, I can feel it coming up sometimes and it still will slip out. But it's this knocking on wood, like knock on wood, and that is superstitious, it's warding off bad outcomes. Like we have, I don't know. I just like it's working in fear of like this is gonna happen if we do this, if we knock on word, wood, then we're kind of like helping to control the outcome. And that's like, no, we put our trust in God, um, that you know, wherever we go or whatever, however, we're using that phrase, uh, okay, I've got to reset the language that I've been speaking for a long time. And I think we, it's not that we're intentionally, so I'm not even saying this to make you feel bad or scared or anything like that as it relates to the words that we speak, but just really start to pay attention of like, okay, the things, especially those little phrases that maybe we've just been taught we've picked up from somebody, is pause and go, is that biblical? Like, where does the Bible talk about charms and good luck? It doesn't. And so at the end of the day, is we put our trust and our faith, um, if we are saved by our Lord Jesus Christ, in him and him being all-knowing, in him the outcome, in him guiding us and protecting us. And um, anyways, I just thought it was something that I've been convicted about, and I really wanted to share with you, and I wanted to challenge and encourage you to think about the words that you say and the effect that they really don't have on anything, especially if you're a Christian. So um, I hope that was helpful for today. Maybe a different little topic that I'm talking about, but I did want to share it because here I am at the age of 48, and I've been saying these things all my life, and I'm really trying to get them out of my life. So um, today I want you to think about the question of do your words matter? Have a great day. Thank you for listening to the Giving Your Best Life podcast. If this episode encouraged you, would you please share it with a friend or family member? Also, we'd love it if you would rate and review this podcast. Finally, if you want to connect with us, subscribe to our YouTube channel or follow us on TikTok and Instagram at giving your best life. Have a fabulous day.