Why You Need to Speak Truth, Life, Victory, and Jesus Now

| |

Sharing is caring!

Opinions are dividing people and hurting our relationships. We need to speak truth, life, and victory ... we need to speak the love of Jesus.

I don’t know if you ever find yourself in this situation but if you’re a faith writer, like me, I’m guessing you do…

Earlier this week, I wrote, You Need to Speak Truth, Life, and Victory, and I was all set to move on with a new post idea today. But the idea I had just wouldn’t come to life. I continued praying about it. I asked the Lord to guide my words and I searched Scripture for verses to share.

And nothing happened.

Until…

The Lord gave me a nudge that made me think I was supposed to revisit Monday’s post.

You see, I wanted to write a post about the way we speak to each other. (Once again, I’m discouraged by the discourse I’m reading on social media. Yes, I’ve even had to hide a few people because the ugliness upsets me.)

And that’s when it hit me, the four points I made about my friend’s teaching me to pray truth, life, victory, and Jesus … apply to the way we should speak to each other as well.

So, let’s take a look at…

Why You Need to Speak Truth, Life, Victory, and Jesus Now

Opinions are dividing people and hurting our relationships. We need to speak truth, life, and victory ... we need to speak the love of Jesus.

I have a lot of opinions.

Just ask my family!

But something I know about opinions is that they are, just that … they’re opinions! They’re not necessarily the truth!

They are simply my beliefs based on past personal experiences and influenced by the information I absorb from my friends and family, the books I read, the news I follow, etc.

I’m entitled to my opinions and you’re entitled to yours.

The problem is, we’re tossing our opinions around as if they are the absolute truth and they’re not!

Which is why the first thing that’s important in the way we talk to one another is, we…

Need to Speak Truth 

There is only one absolute truth.

Look at just some of the words of Paul from Ephesians 4:

You have been called by God. v. 1
Always be humble and gentle, and be patient with each other. v. 2
Keep yourselves united in the Spirit and bind yourselves together in peace. v. 3
There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all. v. 5–6
Speak the truth in love. v. 15
Growing in every way to be more and more like Christ. v. 15
Let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. v. 23
Don’t sin by letting anger control you. v. 26
Do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. v. 30

And finally,

Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. v. 31–32

Okay, are you squirming a little?

Yeah, me too!

The truth is … you and I have better things to talk about than the latest political or social argument!

We…

 Need to Speak Life 

You and I have the power of life and death in our words.

The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences. Proverbs 18:21

Ouch! That’s humbling!

But the truth is, you and I are either breathing life into our relationships or we’re killing them slowly through our words. We are either building up or tearing down, encouraging or discouraging.

I don’t know about you but when I leave a conversation, I want to leave my family and friends … goodness, I want to leave complete strangers feeling encouraged and alive. Don’t you!

Can you imagine what a difference we could make if every follower of Jesus determined that with God’s help we would speak life into every conversation?

We…

 Need to Speak Victory 

Did you know that with the help of the Holy Spirit, you and I already have victory over the world’s twisted words and defeated rhetoric?

You belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. Those people belong to this world, so they speak from the world’s viewpoint, and the world listens to them. 1 John 4:4–5

But you and I have something better to share…

Just a few verses later, John shares his well known verses on love:

Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

God showed how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and His love is brought to full expression in us. 1 John 4:7–12

Every person on the planet craves love. We need it almost as much as we need air to breathe.

And you and I have the perfect love to share, we…

Need to Speak Jesus 

You and I can tell our story. We can tell people about the way LOVE found us. The way Jesus changed everything.

The way He took our mess and turned it into our message.

Jesus is the Good News of our message…

Jesus said to His followers, “Go everywhere in the world and tell the Good News to everyone. Mark 16:15 (NCV)

And by the power of His Spirit, He is able to move in even the hardest hearts and the most stubborn minds through His transforming love.

Opinions are dividing people and hurting our relationships. We need to speak truth, life, and victory ... we need to speak the love of Jesus.

I don’t believe you and I are going to change anyone’s opinions through the frenzied words we share on social media nor are we going to change Uncle Charlie’s mind when he comes to the next family gathering.

All you and I accomplish when we enter the fray with the harsh words of our strongly held personal opinions is further the divide and compromise our witness.

Friends, people are taking sides and I don’t believe that’s where God wants His followers.

Paul wrote:

Clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. Colossians 3:14–15

I’m challenging myself to be more careful with my words … to do a better job of speaking truth, life, victory, and Jesus and to keep more of my opinions to myself. I’m also praying truth, life, and victory over the spiritual battles going on in our world, trusting that God is sovereign and still at work in the world around me.

Friends, thank you so much for being encouragers. Thank you for being people who speak truth, life, victory, and Jesus. You bless me!

Sharing is caring!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

14 Comments

  1. Totally agree with you Deb! I don’t have social media accounts because they have been the source of huge problems in my patients lives. To the point where law enforcement was involved.
    I don’t need that in my life…
    Blessings,
    Jennifer

  2. Thank you for this reminder.

  3. Valerie Murray says:

    A much needed and timely post! Thank you!

  4. As the window for authentic and vulnerable discourse slams tightly shut, our opinions are becoming absolute truth, and we are experiencing a very unhealthy dynamic in our families, churches and society. I think we as believers are so primed to be able to open the window wide once again through honest, life-giving conversations, but the work begins in our own hearts first. Thanks for the challenge, Deb!

  5. Thanks for your sensitivity to “the Nudge” from God.
    I always appreciate your insights here–and the back story when you share it.

  6. It’s that word “always” as in always be humble, kind… that gets me every time. xx Thanks, Deb and have a great weekend (and may people be kind to you!)

  7. Considering all the harsh rhetoric we’ve endured over the past two weeks, I needed these words today, Deb. As Jesus’ followers, we especially need to watch what we say and how we say it to others who may not even be Christians. Our witness can be the only Jesus they know.
    Blessings!

  8. Thank you so much for this thoughtful post. This needs to be said – everyone is entitled to their opinions, but they are just that – opinions! YES!!! Social media is even worse than usual this week.

  9. Wonderful guidelines for interacting with friends! Thanks for following the Lord’s leading in your writing!