Right Words

This past Sunday I sat next to a woman that I've come to love.  As we nibbled our lunches, I happened to share a struggle about aging.  She encouraged me.  I then shared a victory I had experienced in the past.  She praised the conquest.  When I hugged her goodbye, I didn't want the lunch to come to a close.  I wanted it to linger.  I wanted to continue to remain in her presence.

That, my fine feathered friends, is the power of right words!  Should it come, then, as any surprise that God says a whole lot about words?  He spoke planet earth into being, so I'm pretty sure He's putting a whole lot of weight on the things that come from our hearts, through our lips, and into the air called our words.

This morning as I sat in my new sanctuary, reading God's words and listening to  Apache and Katie (the horses) eat grass and swish flies with their mammoth tails, I read 1 Corinthians 14.  Paul, the author, uses his words to encourage this church to use their words to strengthen each other.  Why?

The church uses lots of words, but unfortunately we haven't learned the power of using the right words.  Words that build have power.  Words that come from a place in our Spirit, reflecting God's Spirit, that cause hearts and deep places within us to mutter:  "God is truly here among us" (I Corn. 14:25) seem to go unsaid.  If you don't believe me, consider the state of "the church".

I'm learning to really listen to the right words.  Words based on God's truth from His Spirit build. It's not that we never correct or reproach each other (the church) but we do so from a place of strength and in love.  The result is the outcome: building up and strengthening. 

Making another lunch date,
christina