Wounding Words

Shhh! You are too loud!
Can’t you just sit still for once?
I don’t have time for this (you).
Your body language offends people.
You’re too big to dance.
Don’t be so bull-headed.
If you are going to act like a baby, then…

Words. They can speak life or death. As scripture tells us, there is power in the tongue.

So, how does that work, exactly? Well, as you can imagine, the enemy does all he can to bring destruction into our lives. One of his most destructive tools is causing us to believe lies about ourselves. While he is unable to read our minds, he can still feed lies into our minds. And his purpose is to “steal, kill, and destroy”. (John 10:10)

Because Satan is working to wreak havoc in our lives since birth, he wants us to believe bad things about ourselves because that undermines our confidence and self-worth. Thus, he uses things people say. We give power to those words because we believe them and agree with them. And then we accept it as truth. See how that works?

Some people have even been told by a parent that they wish they’d never been born! From that point on Satan created a “death wish” in their spirit. They felt like they didn’t even deserve to be alive. Not all lies are this devastating, but they kill the spirit, nonetheless.

The words written at the beginning are all things I’d been told. You can tell their profound impact on me because I still remember them!

The next step was agreeing with them, which led me to feel broken, less-than, and an irritating problem.

The concept of “making an agreement” is discussed in John Eldredge’s book Waking the Dead on page 152.

And what (Satan) is seeking is a sort of “agreement” on our part. He’s hoping we’ll buy into whatever he’s saying, offering, insinuating.

John Eldredge from “Waking The Dead” (Such a great book!)

Praise God that He, as my Healer, got ahold of me and has restored me to the original creation I was! He has shown me His purpose for my personality and abilities.

However there were many years of pain and dysfunction while I believed and acted from the lies the enemy fed me.

How in the world did I get free?

1) I had to seek His healing and His truth.

2)I had to choose to believe His Word.

3) I had to re-program my brain.

For some of you this could happen quickly. I believe God had this process in me take several years while I purposefully walked through my spiritual healing. He did that so I could help lead others and share His truth.

Rather than saying like some, “I don’t know how God did it, I just know I’m changed.”, I can tell you the steps it took for me.

Now mind you, after so many years the lies I believed (“I’m not deserving of love, I’m a problem, I’m ugly, I’ll never be cherished”, etc.) were deeply rooted in me. It took years of God’s chipping away at them with His Words of truth.

I had to receive the truth. I had to believe it. I had to totally change my self-image in light of His words about who I am to God! Because what we believe determines our behavior! “As a man thinketh in his heart, so he is.” Proverbs 23:7

And I had to decide that God’s opinion of me was the one that counted. I mean, He really should know what He’s talking about!

In November of 2022 I wrote in my journal, “Ok, so now I know how I’m able to be so full of joy. I have a good heart and know it. God redeemed my heart. He set me free from the enemy’s influence of lies about myself. He set me free to be me. And my heart is full of His love–with me, intimately with me, not just for me. I’ve come to know the delight and joy He has in me–the way He created me–and that it is good. And my heart is good. And full of joy and love.”

A while back I wrote a longer post that details more of what God has said about us and how He sees us if you’d like to discover more.

I pray that these words will speak to your heart and maybe even set you on a quest that will change your life!

Supporting Scriptures:

“Your words are so powerful that they will kill or give life.” Proverbs 18:21 The Passion Translation

Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! Det. 30:19 New Living Translation