SAY, WHAT?
In the book of Ephesians, the Apostle Paul refers to our speech in several verses. In the first two instances he sets the positive way of our speaking against the negative. “So then, get rid of lies. Speak the truth to each other, because we are all members of the same body.” (Eph 4:25). And… ”Don’t say anything that would hurt another person. Instead, speak only what is good so that you can give help wherever it is needed. That way, what you say will help those who hear you.” (Eph 4:29).
A lot of people think that deeds, you know ‘good deeds’ are all they need to be on the right side of God. However, the thought that WORDS CAN BE DEEDS might sound crazy, but it’s not new at all. In Hebrew, WORD, and DEED are not distinct from one another; WORD and DEED have the same root. In other words, ‘to SAY something was to DO something.’
Dietrich Bonhoeffer had discovered this, and he witnessed to it in the Flossenberg Prison during World War II where he had been condemned to die. He walked the narrow corridors visiting the cells, speaking to prisoners and encouraging them, laughing and joking with them, reminiscing with them and praying with them. His words were his primary means of ministry. Still his words were deeds. He wrote:
“God has put His Word into our mouth in order that it may be communicated to others. The Christian needs another Christian who speaks God’s Word to him. He needs that friend again and again and again.”
WORDS are powerful, and Paul calls us to use them as deeds of love, for edification, that we would “Be kind to each other, sympathetic, forgiving each other, as God has forgiven you through Christ.” (Eph 4 :32) (Some info. from The Preacher’s Commentary)
In Him,
Pastor Kevin Kinchen
