Speak Words of Peace and Blessing

Anxiety in the heart causes depression, but a good word
makes it [the heart] glad. —Proverbs 12:25 [brackets added]

Our message this morning will be titled "Speak Words of Peace and Blessing." Jesus came that we might have life and life more abundantly (John 10:10). This is true whether times are good or difficult. Jesus is always present with us, and His words are always words of life for His family. He desires that we receive and live by His words and share them with others, beginning in our homes.

These are difficult times, but whether times are good or difficult, Jesus is on the throne. We can reign in life because He reigns. We can always have His inner peace and release His peace to others through our words of peace and blessing if only we will yield to the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of Jesus) and allow Him to control our lives, including our tongues.

The Word of God teaches us that there is the power of life and death in our tongues. Some Christians are speaking death to themselves and those around them, rather than life and life more abundantly. The devil and the world have robbed them of their inner peace and blessing, and they are functioning as the devil’s "stressmakers," rather than God’s peacemakers. Their words often release stress and emotional turmoil, rather than peace and blessing. Sickness—mental, emotional, and/or physical—is on the way. Stress and the resulting anxiety can put adults and children in fetal positions, figuratively or literally. The “good news” is that this doesn’t have to be. In John 10:10, Jesus tells us that the devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but He (Jesus) comes to give us life, and life more abundantly. He didn’t just come to do something for us thousands of years ago; He comes to us by His Spirit in the here and now. He is an ever-present help in our times of need.

Christians are to have inner peace in the midst of both good and difficult times because Jesus is our “Prince of Peace.” Jesus enables us to have peace and to share it with others, beginning in our homes. Outer peace is a result of inner peace. Jesus makes it possible for His disciples to not only have peace but to speak words of peace and blessing to others, again beginning in our homes. Let’s allow Him to do so! Let’s resist the devil and his ways and words and replace them with God’s ways and words. If you give commands and use phrases such as, "you need to do this and that, or you will get this and that," make sure they are from the Lord and spoken in love. Stressful commands and phrases don’t reveal inner peace, and they seldom, if ever, bring life to others. "Spare the rod and spoil the child" does not mean to inflict injury, whether it is physical, mental, or emotional.

In summary, the devil’s spirit and ways of saying things are different from God’s Spirit and ways of saying things. The devil’s way causes and releases harmful results! Injury can be inflicted on adults and children by the devil’s ways and words. God’s way causes and releases peace and blessing. We are overcomers because Jesus is our Overcomer! If you have made mistakes in these or any other areas, receive God’s forgiveness and not the devil’s condemnation. Go forward in the Spirit! The Lord Jesus bless and keep you and your family!