Give the Gift of Words

The Message translation of Proverbs 18:21 is so clear, it says Words kill, words give life; they're either poison or fruit—you choose. This applies to words you speak to yourself, to others and to situations. Many of us have spoken death over ourselves, “I can’t do…”, “I’ll never have…”, “I’ll never be able to…”, and on, and on. We speak curses to others “You’re stupid…”, “They’ll never amount to anything.” We speak death about situations, “That’ll never change.” etc. I’ll admit it is difficult to change your speech. Especially when surrounded by so many naysayers and a lot of bad news. It also doesn’t help when we use negative words to describe something good. An example, saying, “You killed it!” when someone does something well.

Unfortunately, there are people who get a certain satisfaction from speaking death and they relish the outcome. Years ago I heard Iyanla Vanzant say that people want to be right. I didn’t understand then, but I do now. Some people LOVE being able to think or say to themselves, “See I knew I couldn’t.” The only thing missing is an exclamation of “I’m right!” There are possibly some other issues driving the use of negative words, but a good place to start to reverse the curses we have spoken is to begin to speak life.

Let’s speak life to ourselves, others and every situation. “I can do…”, “I have…”, “I am able…”! “My business is prospering in this economy!” “This health situation is turning around!” “That young person will be …!” “The hiring manager is calling me today!” You make it personal for yourself, those around you and your situations.

The Message translation of Ephesians 4:29 says, Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift.


The Assistant Pastor at my church once challenged the congregation to behave as if everything that we said would come to pass for the next 24 hours. He said that doing so would cause you to be keenly aware of every word you spoke. For the next 24hours and the rest of our lives, let’s give the gift of words!

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