the very first words that were spoken was not by man, but by God. it is one of the ways we are like God. words belong to God.
words are profoundly important precisely because they are in every
mundane moment of our lives and it is in those moments that we know
where are our hearts are.
none of our words are neutral. our words have direction- either towards life, or death.
isn't it significant that faith comes by hearing?
i was filled with the wonder of this question- how could it be, that God
would love me this much, that He would actually care about this mundane
incidental moment in one morning of one day of one week of one month
of one year of one family living on one street in one neighbourhood in
one city in one state in one nation in one globe in one universe in one
moment of time and God in the glory of His love was in that moment,
raising someone up to rescue my heart one more time. that is love, so
magnificent, i can't wrap my brain around it. that redeeming love is not
just a big-moment love. that love reaches into the private recesses of
our everyday lives, into those secret quiet moments, even into moments
of the bathroom on a single day- that's how zealous that redeeming love
actually is. and because of that we can have the courage to work through
the horror of the trouble of our world of words.
(Luke 6:43-45)
what comes out of our mouths is not a reaction to what people do or our circumstances but a reflection of our hearts.
if it hadn't first been in our hearts, it wouldn't have come out of our mouths.
there's nothing that comes out of the mouth of a drunk that wasn't there
in the first place. alcohol merely loosens the lips to reveal what is
in the heart.
there is an organic consistency between what is in my heart and what
comes out of my mouth, just like only apple seeds can produce apple
trees.
nice-sounding words without work on the heart is like stapling sweet and
juicy apples to a tree that would only continue to produce sour and dry
ones.
we are our greatest communication problem.
(2 Corinthians 5:14-15)
by focusing on ourselves, we are reducing the glory-and-love-infused,
big sky kingdom of God vast beyond our imaginations in which we were
made to reside to the claustrophobic, restricting, oppressive,
self-destructive confines of the self.
why am i irritated when i'm in traffic? because i want to drive on roads
paid for by other citizens who choose not to use them. why am i
irritated when my children mess up? because i want self-parenting,
sinless children.
how much of our anger has anything at all to do with the kingdom of God?
(Galatians 5:13-16)
God has invested words with power. People can be destroyed by words.
sin is fundamentally anti-social. it dehumanizes the people around us, making them either merely vehicles to get what we want, or obstacles to what we want.
this is the man you married. the man you dated was the fake.
to be self-seeking is to try to find happiness in little glory that can never last or even satisfy.
(2 Peter 1:3-4)
Jesus is Emmanuel not just because He came to earth but also because He chose to make us the place where He dwells.
what kingdom rules your words? whose kingdom do you speak in service of?
word problems are heart problems. the struggle of words is a struggle of
kingdoms- a war between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of self. the
kingdom that rules your heart will dictate your words. there is grace-
glorious, powerful, enabling, forgiving, delivering grace for this
struggle.
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/conference-messages/war-of-words-getting-to-the-heart-for-gods-sake#/watch/full
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