Choose Your Words Wisely

The language you use is very important. How you define things with your tongue is a great indicator of how you see them? Think about it. Do you call yourself pleasantly plump when the truth is you are obese? (I know, I know.. I am going hard today. Just put your seatbelt on and keep reading.) Do you call your best friend a "little flirtatious" when she is a whore? Do you see how what you call something is so very important?

The Bible says in Proverbs 18:21 "The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit." We can speak life over our situations, but sometimes we speak death into them by sugarcoating what is really going on. Think about it. If you went through your day calling everything by what your spirit told you to call them, it would be so much easier to watch out for missteps. It would be easy to spot the enemy trying to get you. But we don't. We sugarcoat the pitfalls and then wonder how we ended up in a trap. And all names are not universal for everyone. My thorn is different from your thorn. In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, Paul writes about a thorn in his flesh. A carnal desire that he wants to fulfill in the natural but can't because of his calling in the spiritual. I don't know what his thorn was just like I don't know what yours is, but I do know my thorns. What if I called the thorns by their spirital names? Example: Instead of calling desserts, "sweets" or "treats" what if I called them "my stupid attempt to exert control over my life by indulging in a sugary substance that is determental to my physical well being but also reeks havoc over my self esteem?" See what I mean? Call the item for what it is. Or how about this one? If you are prone to be caught up in overspending and debt and you are in the mall with a cute dress in one hand and your charge card in the other, don't call the purchase a "treat" or a "splurge." Try calling it this, "the item that you will be paying for 6 months from now when you no longer like it and are working extra hours trying to pay it off and don't have any time for prayer and meditation or pursuing what God ordained for your life." See now the dress isn't so cute, is it?

Sometimes you have to call folks you know different things. It doesn't have to be confrontational and to their face. Change their names in your phone. Instead of your cell phone saying "Monifa" when she calls, change it to "the enemy" or "the road to death." Or write out a longer saying and put it next to the phone. Here try this one, "God's child who is currently being used by the enemy to keep me from my destiny and take me to hell." Of that friend who always wants to go get a drink, knowing that you are trying to put that thorn down. Don't call him "Billy." Call him "a pusher of death that is trying to steal my life and keep me from seeing Jesus." Aren't things made so much more plain by calling items/folks what they really are?

And remember to see yourself as you really are. You are God's child. You are a follower of Christ. You are a royal priesthood. You are abundantly blessed. You are His chosen people. You may have been a crackhead/adulturer/whore or whatever yesterday. But today, You are a member of the kingdom of GOD. Today, you are walking with fresh feet and seeing with fresh eyes. Today is day 1 of the best days of your life. It is not going to be easy, but it is so much easier when you wear God glasses and start seeing your life and those in it for what they really are.

So today, January 1, 2010, spend the entire day calling folks/items by their "spiritual names." I know I will because one day I hope to hear God call me by my label and say, "daughter, well done."