On Teen Worship & Warfare: Watch your Words

On a Friday night after two and a half hours of worship and intercession, I was face down on the stage floor, listening.

The sanctuary had gone quiet. Those who stayed the extra hour to press in had also settled down, waiting.

I didn’t feel anything extraordinary. Just me, refreshed and confident in my Lord. Would He speak? I wasn’t sure.

Then I heard this in my spirit.

“Don’t ever tell me again you stink as a writer.”

Huh?

I’d never told God I “stink” as a writer. I’d told my writing partner. My husband. A few others who might have caught me on a bad day but to the Lord?

Never.

Then it hit me.

Jesus tells a story in Matthew 25. About a king judging his servants. He says, “Hey, I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in. I was naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.”

But the servants were like, “Huh, when did we visit YOU Lord in prison, when did we give YOU food, water and clothes?”

Look how Jesus answers, “You did it to my friends and brothers, even the little guy who wasn’t very popular or cool, you did it to Me.”

Telling my friend I “stunk” as a writer was the same as telling it to Jesus, the One who called and gifted me to write. I might as well have been telling Him He was stinking up the place for calling me to do this writing-gig.

See, y’all, words do mean things.

You call yourself or a friend an “idiot” or worse, you’re saying it to Jesus. You run yourself down or your friends, you’re telling Jesus you’re not good. Or your friends are worthless.

I gotta tell you, I don’t think He likes it much. In fact, not at all.

I’m all for having a good time. My siblings and I tease and call each other “dork.” We’ve had some good laughs over it.

But the intention in our heart is love. I think the siblings Jesus gave me are awesome!

My family is awesome. Not perfect. But awesome.

There are some real issues in life. Real obstacles to face. Some of you don’t have awesome families or friends.

But you do have Jesus. He calls you lovely. Beautiful. Cool. Handsome.

He calls you His. And made it evident to the world by dying on the Cross and raising from the dead.

You’ve heard it said, “You are what you eat?”

I say, “You are what you speak. You are what you believe about yourself.”

Spiritual warfare starts with what we believe and confess. You believe with negativity, darkness, depression, anxiety, fear, lust, greed, gossip, etc., don’t be surprised when you get a little bit of an extra dose of the same.

But you agree with Jesus, with Light, you get more of the same. Agree with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentles, self-control.

You can’t agree with God if you don’t know God, so get to know Him. Read your Bible, listen to others, ask the Lord to teach you.

He will! You don’t have to be all grown up either. Twelve or a hundred and twelve, the Lord always has an open heart to those who call upon Him.

Now, come on, lets watch our words. Ask the Lord to teach you, okay?

 Let’s start now. Leave a comment and say something good about yourself–something that would make Jesus smile!

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