{Be Encouraged} Words

“Little Children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” – 1 John 4:18

If you have spent any amount of time with me you know that I love words. I love writing letters, journaling, looking words up in the dictionary, learning new words and most of all I love conversations (you can read that “talking” if you want…but I do like listening too!). This month I have been studying 1 John in my devotions and every time I read through the passages I was convicted by the verse above – let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. ouch. For someone who loves using words it came as a bit of a shock. The more I pondered the verse though, the more I realized that it doesn’t mean that I cannot use words to love people. It means that my words need to be more than JUST words – they need to be backed by my actions and a sincere love.

Words can come very easily to me and sometimes I use them without making sure that my heart and motives are sincere in what I am saying or writing. As I said before I love learning new words and understanding what they mean but in every day conversation I sometimes fail to take seriously the implications of my words.  When I say that I love someone, am I actually willing to serve them and sacrifice for them as those words mean? When I say that I will pray for someone, do I actually make sure to follow through on that commitment? Often times I am afraid the answer is no, and that is not okay with me! I want to be known as a woman of my word. I want my words to be backed in action and a sincere heart.

My prayer for you and I this week is that we will take the meaning of our words seriously and that we will indeed learn to love not ONLY in word but also in deed and truth. – Kristina