I wanted to share my thoughts from the book of 1 Corinthians 10: 10 which says "Neither murmur you, as some of them also murmered and were destroyed by the destroyer"
In my walk with the Lord I have come to learn that their is power in the words that we speak. Our words can be used to build up or destroy. Most of us do not really understand the power that goes behind what we say. God Himself created this world by speaking it into creation. We have been created in the image of God
Isn't it amazing that we can go to church on Sunday to praise God and afterwords use the same tongue to tear down others and curse during the week.
From the verse above Apostle Paul was reffering to the Egyptians at the time they were in the wilderness when God miraculously delivered them from Egyptian bondage. It would have been hard being an atheist in those days after seeing all the miracles that the Israelities saw and experienced and yet even after God came through for them so many times eg God parting the Red Sea, the pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day to guide them, manna from heaven, they still complained about the leadership and petty things such as food and actually wanted to go back. Because of their unbelief, fearful and grumbling spirit, a journey that would have taken three days to reach the promised land took them 40 years!!
That generation that came out of Egypt all died in the wilderness with the exception of Joshua and Caleb
Our destiny that God ordained for our lives before the foundations of the world can be hindered by our words. We can grumble and complain when things are bad or we can choose to speak God's promises when things dont go the way we wanted or expected. The devil hates us and want us to focus on the negative words through disappoints that we experience, frustrations and hurts. We create the environment around us by the words we speak. Also, you attract what you speak.
Growing up i lived a life where the people close to my life used to say thing that would make me self concious and feel worthless. Has someone (especially your parent) ever told you things like..
"You will never amount to anything.."
"Why can't you be like your brother/sister/neighbour.."
"That is too hard for you.."
These kinds of words go to your subconcious and over time you develop a negative self perception that you are "a good for nothing person". With this kind of an attitude you might be bound to fail in certain areas of your life because you have been conditioned to think yourself as a failure.
When i gave my life to Christ these destructive thought patterns were not automatically erased and it took a process of time before these strongholds were broken with the help of the Lord. The power of the enemy is in the lie. When we give our life to Christ he has lost his control over us that why he tries to trick us into bondage in our minds by reminding us of our past and failures.
I have learnt that its only the truth of God that will set us free. The Truth always disarms the enemy. That's what Jesus did when he met satan head-on in the wilderness. Meditating on Gods truth and what he thinks of us will dismantle the lies of the devil.
There are still areas in my life that i have developed bad habits from the past which I know the Lord working in me to remove them.
I'm learning and work by very best to control my tongue. I find myself many times in situations that my flesh want me to hit back but when i chose to remain silent and not argue and as I do this I reflect the character of Christ. If i find that i am gossiping or complaining i choose to repent and move on. We all are a work in progress.