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Ways a Woman’s Words Can Give Life // by Amanda Edmondson
Whether
or not you have ever birthed a baby, by God’s design all women are created to
be life givers. God gave us a capacity in our bodies and in our spirits to give
life, to nurture, to encourage, and to comfort with our words.
Here
are four ways our words give life:
1. Listening
It’s a
skill to know when to speak
and when not to speak. Wives, are you taking time to listen to your
husband when he comes home or are you quick to tell him all about your day and
which child did what? We give life when we listen because it shows that we care
for them and that we are willing to do life with them! You won’t know how to
begin giving life with your words if you aren’t listening to what people are
saying.
“My dear brothers and sisters,
take note of this: everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow
to become angry.” -James 1:19 (NIV)
2. Encouraging
Our
words can give life or death. A bad word divides, deceives, and destroys:
“Death and life are in the power
of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.” -Proverbs 18:21
We
fail to encourage others when we gossip.
What are your motives in running to tell someone else?
If you
have a hard time determining if something is gossip, ask yourself: Is this
helpful for building others up according to their needs? Does it benefit those
who are listening (Eph. 4:29)? We give life when we point people to the Lord with
our words.
From
our relationship with God, our heart overflows with words, as David’s did in Psalm
19:14:
“Let the words of my mouth and the
meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD.”
We
should desire for our words to be pleasing in the sight of the Lord. Not to
capture the attention of those around us or to be the person in the know, but to
speak words of life that point to Christ. When our lives aren’t found in
Christ, our words may not be rooted in the Lord. Our struggle to give life with
our words is a struggle of our hearts.
3. Rebuking
Sometimes one of the best ways to love someone is to give them a Godly rebuke.
Don’t sit in silence. Hate sin and fight for the purity of the community around
you in light of eternity! When rebuking someone, first we have to identify if
the person is really in sin. We do this by going to Scripture and comparing our
friend’s actions to what the Bible says. Then, we pray for wisdom and grace,
and for the power to speak in love. Pray for the one you are rebuking. Pray for
a conviction of sin, that they would leave your conversation desiring to be more
like Christ and seek repentance.
4. Praising
We are
quick to give attention and praise to how others dress. Yet we are slow to give
praise and honor to people for something they’ve done. Aren’t people more
valuable than a cute outfit? We get to celebrate with one another and to
celebrate each other. We give life by praising people: we give them honor and
we affirm the work that the Lord is doing in them. As women, we can live out
the call to be life givers at any point in our life regardless of our marital
status, number of children, or grandchildren. Be a woman who gives life to
those around you in your homes, work places, and churches.
