Somedays life feels perfect
Other days it just ain’t workin
The good, the bad, the right, the wrong,
And everything in between
Other days it just ain’t workin
The good, the bad, the right, the wrong,
And everything in between
Though it’s crazy, amazing
We can turn our hearts with the words we say
Mountains crumble with every syllable
Hope can live or die
So speak Life, speak Life
Through the deadest darkest night
Speak Life, Speak Life
When the sun won’t shine and you don’t know why
Look into the eyes of the brokenhearted
Watch them come alive as soon as you speak hope
You speak love, you speak…
You speak Life, You speak Life
Some days the tongue gets twisted
Other days my thoughts just fall apart
I do, I don’t, I will, I won’t
It’s like I’m drowning in the deep
Well it crazy to imagine
Words from our lips as the arms of compassion
Mountains crumble with every syllable
Hope can live or die
So speak Life, speak Life
Through the deadest darkest night
Speak Life, Speak Life
When the sun won’t shine and you don’t know why
Look into the eyes of the brokenhearted
Watch them come alive as soon as you speak hope
You speak love, you speak…
You speak Life, You speak Life
Lift your head a little higher
Spread the love like fire
Hope will fall like rain
When you speak life with the words you say
Raise your thoughts a little higher
Use your words to inspire
Trouble falls like rain
When you speak life with the things you say
Lift your head a little higher
Spread the love like fire
Hope will fall like rain
When you speak life with the words you say
I love music
These are the lyrics to one of my new favourite songs!! And just so we’re clear my favourite songs change frequently because I LOVE music and because God uses the words of so many different songs to show me His heart!
These are the lyrics to one of my new favourite songs!! And just so we’re clear my favourite songs change frequently because I LOVE music and because God uses the words of so many different songs to show me His heart!
Words are a necessary part of my day
Anyway, I’ve been reminded a few times over the last few months of the power of my mouth. As a woman, words are a necessary part of my day…we’ve all heard the studies and the estimated amount of words anyone of the female persuasion must speak in order to fill the quota…last I read it was something in the vicinity of 7,000-50,000 words per day! WOW! That’s a decent amount of words and there’s a lot that can be done with those words.
Anyway, I’ve been reminded a few times over the last few months of the power of my mouth. As a woman, words are a necessary part of my day…we’ve all heard the studies and the estimated amount of words anyone of the female persuasion must speak in order to fill the quota…last I read it was something in the vicinity of 7,000-50,000 words per day! WOW! That’s a decent amount of words and there’s a lot that can be done with those words.
It’s interesting to me amidst the debate of guns in society that one of the most powerful weapons that we hold is also an absolute necessity to functioning in our daily life. AND we use these words in abundance, often without even considering the ramifications.
Words that breath life
Late last fall I chatted with a few of my close friends and we were challenging each other on the importance of honesty, words that breathed life and the importance of thinking before we spoke. It was this discussion that has spurred some serious consideration of words throughout every aspect of my life. One of the main challenges that I walked away with from that discussion was this:
When I look back on a conversation I’ve been involved in can I honestly say that I felt good about the words I spoke. I know I can’t control what others say but I can control whether or not the words of my mouth are pleasing in God’s eyes.
I began realizing that there have been plenty of conversations in my life that have left me second-guessing the rightness of it or feeling some guilt over the possibility that, were they repeated, the words spoken could do some serious damage. I acknowledged that moving forward I want to be able to say that what the Psalmist says was also true for me.
Psalm 19:14 says
“May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in your sight,
O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.”
Speak Life
So in an effort to “speak life” I’ve spent the last few months being much more intentional in how I speak. In the spirit of honesty there’s been a few screw-ups along the way but nothing major and I was able to see the fruit of this effort just the other day. I was enjoying a conversation with M and somehow over the course of that conversation it came up that I’d spoken with B and parts of the conversation between B and I had been eluded to when M and B spoke. I was extremely thankful to realize that I had ABSOLUTELY nothing to feel guilty about in that conversation because I had only spoken words of life…and let me tell you that I was ecstatic to discover that fact because there was potential for serious hurt and broken trust if I had not.
Creating atmosphere with our words
Another great reminder has come to me in the form of this parenting book I’m reading. The current chapter has focused on the atmosphere we create as parents and a good chunk of the chapter deals with the words we speak.
“The ruling spirit of our environment is made manifest through the words we choose. It is vital to realize the power that is released when you push wind over your vocal chords…That is why the Bible says, ‘Life and death are in the power of the tongue’ (Pro. 18:21)…We are creating an atmosphere with the very words we choose to use.”
Again and again I’ve come across the reality that our words can be used in so many amazing ways but too often, particularly in Christian circles they’re used to do damage. While we can rest in the reality that God has forgiven our wrong choices, even the choice of wrong words, we too quickly rely on that forgiveness rather than taking time to think before we speak. As is pointed out in this book:
“Don’t just get in the habit of saying, ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.’…”
The point is that we should keep our mouths in check rather than shooting off and then trying to patch it up.
It’s a great lesson to keep in mind as I teach my children to speak kind words to each other, to think before they speak, AND that if they don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. If I’m going to preach it, I darn well better be practising it!
If you want to hear the whole song…check it out here Speak Life
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