Why My Words Matter
The older and hopefully wiser I become, the more I am struck with why my words matter. Not just matter, but my words carve the path I walk on. This path can be treacherous or it can be easier and paved with good things. Maybe this sounds silly or even superstitious to you? I get it, but it’s not, it’s actually law.
There are physical laws like Newton’s Third Law of Motion, simply put: for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Just like there are physical laws, there are spiritual laws. For instance reaping what I sow, becoming what I behold or focus on, and me speaking against others is essentially akin to speaking against myself. (Matt. 7:1-2; Gal. 6:7, Rom 2:1). Or, if I don’t forgive, I won’t be forgiven. Yes, these words sound so simple, and though the concept is simple, it’s far from powerless.
One of the most impactful texts I’ve read on this concept (what you speak comes back to you pressed down and shaken together) is in an ancient text that was found hidden in a cave near the Dead Sea between the years of 1946 and 1947. The text found almost in its entirety, was determined to be written 1000 years previously, around 100 BCE. The text or scroll came to be known to some as The Book of Isaiah. And in Isaiah, the 58th chapter, starting at verse 8 is what I’m referring to where the author talks of how freedom or healing comes like the breaking of the dawn when we stop the pointing of the finger and speaking evil or trouble or sorrow or affliction.
This is such a simple and yet hard truth to accept . . . I speak from my own experience.
Today, if I open my mouth to speak poorly against another, to speak negatively or critically, I am essentially speaking against myself. And the laws of the physical and spiritual are very clear . . . When I speak out against someone, I speak against myself and whatever I send out into the universe against another, it will assuredly come back to me with equal power and force against myself and my generations.
So, what will you choose? This week, every time you find yourself being negative or speaking negatively about someone or even yourself, I challenge you to write it down and consider how you could say it differently. It won’t be easy, but it will be worth it (to paraphrase C.S. Lewis) . . . Challenge yourself to see the situation or the person differently. And consider by asking yourself, does it need to even be said? Gossip, that’s topic for another time.
Next week, we’ll talk about how being positive impacts you physically and spiritually. Again referring to Newton’s Third Law of Motion. If being negative produces negative results in ourselves and lives, then there should be corresponding and opposite data that shows how being positive builds good results in our lives.
Until then, let me know what you think and if you try this let me know what worked, what didn’t? What did you discover?
Be safe, blessed, and seek wisdom in all your decisions!
