Posted by A few weeks ago, I met a group of Christians who took a moment to speak prophetically over me and a couple of friends. The prophetic words were spot on for my two friends and I was pleasantly surprised by this! One of them ended up lying flat on the floor because she was overcome with how on the money the words from perfect strangers were! It was such a cool moment of faith for them.
Then the strangers turned their sights on me, the resident skeptic of the group. I love the Lord with all my heart and have immense faith in him, but that doesn’t keep my brain from being the filter through which everything flows. As the group started speaking, they were right about some things and I could tell that the Holy Spirit was speaking to them. It was really cool!
But then they kept talking and talking and talking. The longer they talked the less right they became. The longer they talked the more my faith diminished. The longer they talked the more annoyed I became.
What started off as a faith bolstering moment ended up planting a seed of confliction in my heart. I knew that the Holy Spirit was speaking to them, but it was hard for me to accept the nuggets I knew were from him because they took a few simple words and ran with them. The more I’ve thought of this interaction, the more I’ve been aware of the importance of our words and the immense impact they can have.
These people were able to spur the faith of a group with just their words.
They were able to put a negative taste in my mouth with just their words.
When speaking to or encouraging others, it’s tempting to fill the space with many words, but that’s exactly what the Bible advises against. Over and over again, it reminds us that we are to use our words wisely. It’s not about the length or number of words we use, it’s all about the heart behind it. One rightly spoken word can make more of a difference in a person’s life than 1,000 words or 1,000,000 words.
Let’s be intentional today to listen carefully, weigh our words intentionally, and release them wisely!
What words are you hearing for yourself? Others?
How do you fight the temptation of using many words?
To go Deeper: Read On Second Thought, You Can Do It!, One Word
Work in Progress 
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