Developing Godly Self-ConfidenceSample

Traveling By Word

When something awful, confusing, or disappointing happens, the first thing we want to do is talk about it. We want to lay out our complaints to our friends, or to anyone else who will listen, in order to hear their confirmation that we’re justified in how we feel. We think that helps us feel better, but actually it keeps us stuck. We don’t move forward when all we do is confirm over and over again that this horrible thing is worthy of whatever we are feeling. It feels good to have others sympathize with us, but that gets stale when we don’t eventually move from where we are. At some point, we must change how we’re talking about a situation if we want to move forward and out of it.

Proverbs 18:21 tells us that the tongue has the power of life and death. That means the words we’re speaking about a situation have the power to bring life or death to it. This matters for those around us who are listening, but the second half of this verse reminds us that it matters for us too. We hear what we say, and we eat the fruit of our words. When we speak life, we experience life. When we speak death, we experience death.

It might seem small, but our words have power like a bit has in a horse’s mouth or a rudder has on a ship. They have the power to shift massive things in a different direction. In Numbers 13, we read about twelve men who went to scout out the land God had promised to give the Israelites. The land was flowing with milk and honey and had good fruit, but the cities were powerfully fortified and the people were intimidating. In spite of this opposition, two men came back full of confidence that, since God was with them, they could take the land. The ten other men, however, focused on the much bigger people who lived there. Their words described how big the enemy was in comparison to themselves, but made no acknowledgement to the greatness of God. Two men spoke life and ten men spoke death. In the end, the men who showed contempt for God and spoke death were not able to enter the land. But the two men who were confident in God and spoke life, did enter the land. We might not be able to see the direct connection or the impact of our words right away, but they do determine what’s to come.

Is there a situation in which you feel stuck right now? How are you talking about it to those around you? The next time someone asks you about it, be honest about what’s happening, but be sure to include how you’re confident things will turn up because God is with you.