Word Matters

“The sum of Your word is truth, and every one of your righteous ordinances is everlasting.” ~ Psalm 119:160

I’m an advocate for words. I will admit (and my husband will confirm) that I can sometimes get a little obsessive about it. Words and how they are used matter to me. They represent thoughts, emotions, and promises. I’m the woman who will spend more than an hour in the greeting card aisle because the words printed on the card that I choose must represent my true feelings. I flat out refuse to buy an e-reader of any kind as I prefer the tangibility of a book in my hands, where I can see and touch the author’s words on paper that I can smell. I can’t even bring myself to use abbreviations in text messages, I feel compelled to spell it all out and give each word the respect that it deserves.

I think I tend to approach words with reverence because they are the avenue to communicating truth. Recently I was involved in a conversation where one person said to another, “You are not a man of your word.” What a biting statement it was. For a few weeks now I’ve been thinking about that statement and what it would have felt like to have those words aimed at me. And then I realized that whether or not those words are ever spoken to me directly, I know that they are sometimes true in my own life. I have not always been a person of my word. I often use words out loud to disguise what is happening in my heart – to defend and deflect. I fall short of being consistent with truth in my words more often that I’d like to admit.

This is why I need a savior. Specifically I need God to be my Savior. His words are true because His Word is truth, and it is the same yesterday, today, and forever. I don’t ever have to wonder if He is being real with me or what His motives are. I am learning that if I want to be a person of my word I need to be a person in His Word. The more that I seek His faithful, unchanging presence the more pure my own motives become. God’s words matter most of all and I pray that I always have the ears to hear them.