Experiencing God's Presence #330

The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.

Proverbs 18:21

You constantly have a script running through your mind. We all do. That script is filled with thoughts about the past, present, and future. The backward-looking thoughts may be either regretful or satisfying, the present-oriented ones may be full of doubts or decisiveness, and the forward-looking ones may be full of anxiety or hope. Usually, all of the possibilities, both positive and negative, weave in and out of our thought life. And with most of us, they come out in our words.

According to Scripture, words are powerful. They can kill or nourish life, wound or heal, and even shape our future. The script that plays in our minds and on our tongues has major consequences. If we’re full of doubts, fears, regrets, discontentment, bitterness, criticism, or despair, our outward circumstances and relationships will tend to line up with what we say and expect. But if we’re full of gratitude, words of encouragement and blessing, worship, contentment, and faith, the same is true—our outward lives will tend to match our inner lives. We shape our surroundings far more than we think we do.

This is opposite of what many of us believe. We tend to assume that our outward lives dictate our inward emotions and that we are victims of our circumstances. But when we invite the Presence into our inner lives, and when we choose to think and speak according to His truth, the inward life shapes our outward experience. The truths we hold on to in faith are the truths that play out in our lives. The words we speak become a pretty accurate script for our story.

Guard your story well. Be intentional in your thoughts and careful in your words. Fill them with gratitude and blessing and faith. And enjoy the change in your experience.

Father, let my words and my thoughts reflect who You are and the truth You have spoken. And let them shape my life and the lives of others for Your glory.

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