Friday, February 8, 2019

words are forever

I have been thinking about words the last couple days. As someone who enjoys reading and likes writing, words are to me what paints and clay are to an artist. Words can be such a comfort and offer joy to those between whom they are shared; words can be humorous or clever, fiery or calming.

But words for all their good, beauty, and versatility can also be used in devastating ways. Words said to us or about us that were cruel, vicious, unfair, maligning, disappointing - those words remain long after they've been spoken. On the other side, kind uplifting things said to us can be recalled to but often requires more effort to remember at least for me. Are you ever haunted by words said to you long ago? I can't imagine anyone saying no. Words are in very real sense forever. Proverbs 18:21 says, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits." Whether written, spoken, and thought about - words have enormous importance.

John starts his gospel about Jesus this way... "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."
It's amazing, incomprehensible even, to think of Jesus Christ not just as someone who communicated with words but who is the first and last, beginning and end Word.

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom..." Colossians 3:17
The Word of Christ can live and reside inside you.

"And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit..." 1 Thessalonians 1:6
The Word of Christ can be received or rejected, welcomed with joy or discarded with disdain.

"For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep." 1 Thessalonians 4:15
The Word of Christ gives authority to the things we say to each other.

"The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever." 1 Peter 1:25
The Word of Christ stands forever, it will never expire, tire, or fall.

What words are you using today? xo

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