By: Catie Jo Tansey
The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.’ So they will put my name on the Israelites and I will bless them.” Numbers 6:22-27
Oftentimes, it seems like words leave my mouth before I even think them. The encouraging words I spoke over my sister in her battle against anxiety, as well as, the not-so-nice ones I spoke out of frustration and pride both happened in a moment's time. The words I spoke played a part in paving the path that she would walk in her struggle with the unseen. Did you know it’s been said that we speak more than 7,000 words a day? Each one quick to leave our mouths and quick to make an impact.
In Numbers 6:22-27, the Lord gave a command for the priests to speak these words over His people and He would bless them. The One who spoke life into existence now commands His leaders to speak life over those they led. The priests’ spoken words would carry out the desire of God’s heart— to bless, protect, and bring peace to His people.
It’s interesting to me that the Lord asked the priests to bless the people, rather than exercising His power to bless them outright without any spoken words. This teaches us two important principles:
1. God desires us to take part in the blessing of His people.
As previously mentioned, God could have blessed His people without commanding His priests to speak anything, but He chose to grant His priests the ability to carry out His desire through their words. 1 Peter 2:9 says that WE (you and me!) are a royal priesthood so we can take part in blessing God’s people through our words too! When we speak God’s promises over the people around us, we carry out our God-given authority and act as vessels to bring Heaven here on Earth!
2. Our words have power.
Proverbs 18:21 says, “Our tongue has the power of life and death.” Just like my words paved the way for my sister’s fight against anxiety, our words have power. We can bring so much life or so much hurt to those around us depending on the words we choose to speak. When we choose to speak truth, love, and the grace of God, we can make an eternal impact on their lives.
Y’all, let’s choose to use our words for good and carry out the character of God in the conversations we have every day! We can be confident that the words we speak matter and are important in the eyes of God.
Prayer:
Father, thank You that You are so good and desire to bring blessing upon Your people. Thank You that You have given us the ability to take part in what You are doing through our words. Help us to speak life over those around us. Allow our words to be fruitful, loving, and edifying. We love you Jesus! Amen.