The Power of Words

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “The power of words”

Our Bible verse for today: “Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” Proverbs 18:21 (HCSB)

Our thought for today: “The power of words”

So, there I was, nearing the end of the month of October, needing a new theme to write about in these daily devotionals for the month of November, but the Lord hadn’t given it to me. I had prayed about it, repeatedly, but I didn’t sense Him leading me to a subject. But finally, the leading did come and it came from a source I wasn’t expecting.

Recently my wife, Aimee, bought me a copy of a devotional book that she was using and which she found to be deep, insightful, and helpful. The title is, “God Never Blinks: 50 Life Lessons for Life’s Little Detours” by Regina Brett. I love it. The lessons are based largely on her own life and experiences, but they apply broadly to all of us.

On that particular day, as I was still searching for a theme for our November devotionals, Regina told the story of how she had spent decades of her life working at jobs that she neither liked nor which were fulfilling for her. They included jobs like store clerk, secretary, waitress, funeral assistant, and others like that. Finally, she went back to school, earned a degree in journalism, and began writing for a living. She quickly realized that she had found her niche as a newspaper journalist and then as a devotional writer. She wrote, “My vocation is to inspire people through writing. That is the place where my deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet. I write to make people feel less alone.”

That resonated with me. It reminded me of how, many years ago, I adopted the vison that guided the ministry of pastor and author Eugene Peterson. He once wrote, “I am a pastor and a writer. Those are not separate vocations competing for my time and attention, they are both part of a unified calling. I am a pastor and a writer; it is a single coherent identity. My artistic medium is words, written and prayed and preached.” Those words changed the course of my life and ministry.

As I sat there considering the words of Brett and Peterson, it caused me to think about the power of words to impact people for good or for bad. Not just for those of us who write, preach, and teach for a living but for all of us. Words are powerful and they impact people for good or for bad, depending on how they are used.

It’s not just pastors and authors who use words to write and pray and preach – we all do, in one form or another. We use words everyday all day. We receive them from God and from others, and we give them back to God and to others. Words are powerful and they do matter.

So, for the month of November we will prayerfully and devotionally think about the power of words – the words we speak, the words we read, the words we write, and all the different ways in which we communicate those words. We will consider the power of the Word of God, and the power of the words of people. And we will consider the responsibility we all have to use our words well.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

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