Tuesday, April 22, 2014

The Power of Words

"For they were trying to make us afraid,
saying, 'Their hands will be weakened in the work,
and it will not be done."

Nehemiah 6:9

The man had been a failure on every job that he had. He no longer expected to be a success in anything. He constantly put himself down in front of others. He felt like his whole life was a failure. He made an appointment to talk with his pastor. He said, "I guess my dad was right about me. Often, he would get mad at me when I was a teenager. He would say, 'Boy, you will never amount to anything." The pastor said, "I'm sure he was trying to motivate you to do better. However, if you choose to believe those words, you will continue to experience fear and failure." He could continue to believe his dad's words or his heavenly Father's word in the Bible. The pastor read to him, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13).

Nehemiah helped lead the people of God back to Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile. He encouraged them to rebuild the walls around the city. Others spoke words to make them afraid. Nehemiah's encouraging words motivated them to get the job done. Nehemiah's name means "comfort of the LORD." To comfort is to strengthen. They were able to overcome words of fear and respond to Nehemiah's words of comfort and strength.

In your life, there will be people who speak words that could easily cause you to be afraid and give up. However, there will be others who speak words to comfort and strengthen you. The choice is yours as far as who you will believe. Let us thank God for people who have spoken words of encouragement into our lives. Let us also remember that someone needs an encouraging word from us today. The power of words makes a difference.