Your Words Can Change a Life
Thanks for your great stories yesterday. Continuing our discussion today, I want to focus on how God can use you!
As a senior pastor, youth pastor, or student pastor, God can often use your words in an extra special way. It is not that you are better than a non-pastor, but your words can carry more weight in a person’s mind. Like it or not, many people see you as a representative of God. You should “feel that weight” as you speak.
You can look someone in the eyes and tell them:
- “I believe in you.” They may never have heard that from anyone else. Give them the gift of your faith.
- “You are making a difference.” Many great people serve Christ and His church for years without ever hearing those special words.
- “God has forgiven you.” Many people confess their sins to God but don’t “feel” forgiven. You can speak on behalf of God’s promises and help set someone free from any false guilt they continue to carry.
- “God used you in my life.” Occasionally someone will encourage me when I’m down and not even know it. I love to give them a return gift by telling them what God did through them for me.
I’d encourage you to become more and more generous with your words! I like what God said in Deuteronomy 3:28, “But commission Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead this people across and will cause them to inherit the land that you will see.”
- Commission others to ministry with your words.
- Strengthen others with your words.
- Encourage others as long as it is called today.
How has God used your words?
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I never tire of seeing broken-down people, people who feel like all is lost, find hope from “I love you but more than that God loves you unconditionally.” Sounds trite but to them it is a gold mine.
In addition to encouraging individuals with our words; we can also strengthen them by being that “Representative from God” that tells someone what they may not want to hear.
Great Reminder Craig!
I have had the blessing of having people come back to me and say “thank you for telling me that you believed in me.” I have had the privildge of seeing God do amazing things through people that a simple word of encouragement was the only push they needed to attempt something great for Him. These are the rewarding things about being a servant of the Most High God!
Thanks for reminding me!
Bill, Powerful words! I can tell you are an awesome pastor!
Scott, Very true.
Jim, Good stuff.
Just had the chance to do this last night with my daughter. I think one of the greatest opportunities we have to speak words of life is in our homes. Powerful experience. Thanks for the post!
[...] way…two blogs hit my radar this morning and thought I would share with you. The first is from Craig Groeschel of LifeChurch.tv. The second is from the man himself Anthony Gratto. Both will challenge you I [...]
Especially in ministry our words are a great power in our lives and powerfully affect those who trust us….. with great power comes great responsibility….
I love to just remind people that what they are doing is bigger than just them, that they are growing and supporting God’s kingdom.
It seems to plant something in people that what they are doing really truly matters.
I have a young worship leader friend that I am trying to encourage. I went through a lot as a young WL. I burned many bridges and did everything wrong at first. I don’t want to see him make the same mistakes, so I take my time with telling him things.
In a culture of “put down” communication it is good to be reminded to use our communication to “lift up”. Love your stuff bro.
Wow, thanks for this post. I know that I crave encouragement. But, as I work more and more with college students and here their backgrounds I do my best to encourage more than discourage. Thanks Craig!
Wow, this is so true and I really began to notice this when I would see students my youth ministry outside of church and I knew that had been disconnected and doing the party thing and they would see me and not necessarily “run away” but avoid approaching me and for the longest time I would take it personal and then I realized, for them I was a representative of God in their life and I was a reminder of either what they needed to be doing or what they shouldn’t be doing. When I realized this I would make it a point to tackle them and let them know that even though they are doing “whatever” they were still loved and they still had a place, because I feel that God would want them to know that. Great blog…
Zac
This is a sobering thought. I know how my life has been changed over the years from a person in “authority” using their words to encourage me. It did carry more weight in my mind because of their position. Since I am new to full time ministry, I sometimes need to be reminded that my words, either positve or negative, carry a different weight now. The biggest change for me has been with my family. I don’t always see myself as different with them, but they see me different now. Don’t get me wrong, Christ’s standard does not have a “circle” in which we can conduct ourselves as less like Him. But, there are times when you want to let your guard down a little more and you have to be mindful of the filter through which others see you as a “representative of God.” That being said, there is no greater honor than to be able to do what I do. Every sacrifice we make for Christ is worth it. We are all representatives of God, but in ministry, we must be mindful of the weight our words carry because of what we do. Great, thought-provoking, post!
Craig - God used you in my life.
and He still does…far, far more than I think you know.
Your example of Christ continues to astound me…You are the greatest man of God I know. As Timothy would follow Paul’s example, so I follow yours.
You are what I call an “Oak of Righteousness”
God bless you. I appreciate you
Anon, Thanks for the encouragement! I am pumped to know God is using me in some way in your life! God’s blessings to you.
Mandi, I am glad you are beginning to realize the weight of responsibility we have as ministers for Christ! Good thoughts.
I am shocked every time God uses my words. I recently prayed that God would reveal some new recruits for a project at church. I approached several people that had never been a part of the particular area I was recruiting for. They stepped up and enjoyed great success just because of their willingness to serve. My job is the best!!
I think I see it most when I tell people that you really can forgive. What I mean is that we read about it in the Bible and we know we should, but sometimes we think the offense is just too huge to forgive. So, we don’t even try because going back to the “scene of the crime” is just something many aren’t willing to do.
You can forgive. Just remember what you’ve been forgiven of.
Hope that makes sense.
It is so easy to forget the power our tongues have! We have the ability to either edify or destroy, and this is such a sobering responsibility that I’m beginning to see the bigger picture of. I’m in my sophomore year of college at Oklahoma Baptist, and I’m realizing just how much weight our words have with one another - especially in the middle of a stressful week of tests, a season of homesickness or of doubting our calling, or times when we feel our acts of service mean nothing in the grand scheme of things. Thank you for reminding me of my responsibility! While serving this week at Switch and Fuse, I pray God would season our words as leaders and let us only speak in love and truth.
If there is one thing God has gifted me to do it is encourage…to build up and speak life-giving words…praise Jesus that is a gift!
Amazing post! The last few year, God has showed me the ole’ axiom that “people don’t care how much you know, till they know how much you care” is more true today than ever. Caring words are the front door to meeting people where they are in life, even on that day.
As a military chaplain, I’ve found that words are amazing, not only in the contexts you all have described (we do church also), but also in some of the situations where I get to interact with people who would never choose to come to church. Simple words before a ceremony, just prior to a mission or deployment, or encouragement on their return are all opportunities. I may say something and someone who needs that encouragement will latch on to it for a week - a sobering thought, but also a comforting thought as I communicate the grace of God to all sorts of people! I’ve found that I have to be doing this all the time because even when I don’t think that my words can make a difference, they often do, many times leading people to Christ.
[...] I was reading Craig Groeschel’s blog and he wrote a few days ago about how our words as leaders and pastors can be impactful to others. Just the other day, I was speaking with a few girlfriends about the horrible dysfunction of spiritual abuse, well this is the other side. Read his post here. [...]