There is great power in our words…

Quote:
“It is never my custom to use words lightly. If 27 years in prison have done anything to us, it was to use the silence of solitude to make us understand how precious words are and how real speech impacts people.”
—Nelson Mandela

We want to lean into some wisdom as it comes to ways we allow another form of negative talk to derail us from God’s best. We spoke about sideways conversations (gossip) last week; tonight: we want to look into how negative talk shapes and impacts us.

The Apostle Paul challenges us to choose what we let our minds focus on:

Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

He’s directing us to let our minds focus on these things.

Truth: What we let our minds think about, will eventually be what our words talk about!

Often the negative side of communication expresses itself in grumbling, arguing, whining, complaining & condemning negative self talk.

The Scriptures do treat and show us complaining can become a serious sin.

In the OT – Exodus story of redemption:
After God had greatly blessed His people, Israel, delivering them supernaturally from slavery in Egypt, protecting them against their enemies - even miraculously supplying daily bread and water for them in the desert, they complained.

Numbers 11:1 NLT
“Soon the people began to complain about their hardship, and the LORD heard everything they said. Then the LORD's anger blazed against them, and he sent a fire to rage among them, and he destroyed some of the people in the outskirts of the camp.”

-A. W. Tozer:
“Among those sins most exquisitely fitted to injure the soul and destroy the testimony, few can equal the sin of complaining.”

When a body of believers remains pure and blameless, the contrast with their culture is so stark that it is as if they shine like stars. They bring the light of truth into the darkness of depravity, as stars light up the darkness of the night.

= Jesus told those who believe in him: “You are the light of the world…. Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16)

As we SHINE in a way to be a witness to our watching world:
Our words have the ability to attract people, and they also have the ability to repel people.

Q) How are you doing at using your words to attract?

“You and I can’t control every thought that flies into our mind, but we can control which ones we allow to land and linger.”

...*Become the air traffic controller of your mind (see Php. 4:8)

2 Corinthians 10:5
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

-what fills our mind, will fill our heart and eventually will flow out in our words.

We must learn to lean on God’s promises and allow His Word, His words and what He says about us and over us to ultimately shape us most!

The promises of God can kill off the virus of negativity that dilute & pollute our minds. That virus is a condition of the culture in which we live…

We’ll each get infected if we’re not careful to cultivate the antidote of GRATITUDE!!

"Gratitude is a vaccine, an antitoxin, and an antiseptic."
-John Henry Jowett

Proverbs 12:18
"Thoughtless words can wound as deeply as any sword, but wisely spoken words can heal."

Ask the Lord to let you be more of a healer and less reckless with your words: in your own self talk and in your conversations.

IF YOU'RE NEW:
We throw a 10-minute party immediately following the service in the back corner of the room. If you're new, we'd love to meet you and we have a small gift for you! We also want invite you back with us next Sunday at 5pm as we continue our series together. Stick around tonight for the After-Party!