Most people do not realize the power of words. Do you realize that the things you are speaking out of your mouth are setting the cornerstones of your life?

Words deceive us. Words transmit. Think about that. The words that you speak transmit faith or fear. So when we are talking about your spoken words, we are talking about things that are powerful.

We will look in Genesis where God looked out over the darkness that was over the earth:

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
(Gen. 1-3)

You notice that the Spirit of God was hovering over the water. The water was there, the darkness was there, and the Spirit of God was there. But nothing happened until words were spoken. God said, "Light." When God spoke, it came into existence.

His words were His creative power. So many people today think of words as being unimportant. You have heard people make statements like this: "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me."

Nothing is further from the truth. Words can kill you. If you don't know what you are doing with words, they will destroy you.

"The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them" (Prov. 11:3).

Perverseness is crooked and contrary speech. Proverbs has a lot to say about perverse lips—crooked and contrary speech, or speaking things that are contrary to what we actually believe.

Many people speak perversely. They don't know why they do it, but they do. You have to break yourself of it.

Often you speak the very opposite of what you mean. You have heard people say, "Oh, isn't that a big dog!" when it's a little bitty Chihuahua.

That is what the Bible calls perverse speech. It's crooked or contrary. You are speaking contrary to what you actually mean or believe.

God created man in His own image and in His likeness. God's Word is His will for man. When I say man, I mean mankind. Man was created in the image of God.

Man's word—your words—should be your will toward God. We really shouldn't speak anything that we don't desire to come to pass or that is not our will.

Source: Faith and Confession by Charles Capps.
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers