LIVING WORDS
24th Sep 2025
The phrase, “The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life”, struck me as I was reading Proverbs 10 this morning, and I began thinking about the week ahead. The words we speak have the power to give life, and the possibility of doing the opposite.
We have a family wedding on Friday, and a few days ago, we received a FaceTime call from the bride and groom asking whether Joyce and I would pray for them during the ceremony. We were delighted to say ‘yes’ and look forward to blessing them as they begin their married life.
This chapter in Proverbs is full of declarations of what can happen when we speak positive and faith-building words. Here are some: “The tongue of the righteous is choice silver”, - “The lips of the righteous nourish many”, - “The lips of the righteous know what is fitting.”
We all know people who have received negative words in the past that have become like a curse over their lives. One of our children was spoken to by an exasperated school teacher, who said, “You’ll never learn to read!” We came against these words and robbed them of their power, but they were potentially very destructive.
We as believers are the “righteousness of God”, and we have the privilege of speaking blessing and creative words over everyone we speak with. Jesus declared in John 6:63, “The words I have spoken are spirit and they are life.”
The message Joyce wrote last week about using our authority to speak healing to our bodies has produced some very encouraging responses and some great testimonies.
The words we speak are powerful; they can encourage and strengthen or undermine and discourage.
Even those who may be mistreating us can still provide an opportunity to bless, even when we are attacked. Jesus said, “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse, do good to those who hate you.” (Matthew 5:44)
Let us speak words of strength, comfort, affirmation, love, and faith into every person we speak with this week.
by Charles Sibthorpe
