“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and Word was God.”
It’s hard to overemphasize the attention the Bible gives to the power of our words. Jesus is the Word. God created the world through words. Our world is still being created through words. The most valuable resource in the world is intellectual property which is communicated through words. Books from Nietzsche to Plato to Malcolm Gladwell to Ray Bradbury change the way that we see the world and what we envision as right or good or possible. Blogs and newspapers serve as our window into the world around us. There is no end to literature on the power of words to shape our internal and external realities.
And yet, we think that venting and complaining is a healthy part of life. We will say things like, “My life sucks, this sucks, everyone has it better than me, I hate this.” Well if that is the narrative you tell yourself every day from the moment you get out of bed until the moment you go to sleep, then that will become your reality. I recently heard a preacher say, “We will recreate externally our internal environment.” So if you are negative internally, you will create negativity around you. Our brains are shaped by what we consume, but they are transformed by what comes out of our mouths. “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” We can actually choose the abundance of our hearts by picking our words carefully.
When we encounter a situation that is challenging, we can speak life and not death. To give a seemingly mundane example, we can look at two responses to car troubles. My car has only been owned by me for a year. It is two years old and has 45,000 miles on it and the engine light is on and it has difficulty shifting gears even though it is an automatic. One response, “I just got this car a year ago and it’s already having issues! This sucks. It’s probably a poorly made car. What if it’s not covered under the powertrain warranty? I am sure that there will be more and more problems as it gets older. This is just my luck!” or “Hmm. I should take this in and get it looked at. Good thing I am noticing this now before the power train warranty is up! That’s totally God’s favor because if I had noticed it in a few months I may have been over the 50,000-mile limit. If it’s not covered, then I will just have to trust God to provide like he always has.”
OK, I know, that’s a cheesy example, but it illustrates the big difference between people who have been transformed by God’s truth that you are accepted, provided for abundantly, and equipped for good works and people who are stuck in the world mindset that says prepare for the worst and give up hope because if you don’t you are just pretending and lying to yourself. The cynical spirit is more pervasive and destructive to God’s transforming work in our life than any other attitude, and you regularly encounter it in the Church.
Instead of complaining and prophesying destruction over our situation, we need to speak life and prophesy the promises of God over every situation. This is no hopeless optimism or prosperity Gospel. Paul learned to praise God and be content in all circumstances: whether being beaten for the faith, imprisoned, feasting with friends, or doing the work of ministry. Prosperity Gospel says that you will be happy because your circumstances will be what you want them to be. Paul was joyful and content and worshipful in spite of his circumstances. And this is no naive optimism, it is faith in the promises we have received that God will work all things for our good (whether we think it is our good or not) and that we have been created to love Him and enjoy Him forever. So, today why don’t you evaluate your inner monologue. Is it based on convincing yourself of your difficulties and your right to be upset? Or is it encouraging your soul to praise God in all circumstances and reminding yourself of His truth and promises?
