15 | Words Have Power
- Jun 21, 2025
- 5 min read
Updated: Oct 26, 2025
Read the lesson
Welcome back. Today we're discussing the power words have over people.
And this isn't just words to them or about them they can hear.
Words spoken have power.
In the first chapter of the Bible it says "God spoke and it came to be."
Isn't that interesting? Of all the actions that could have triggered creating something it was "He spoke"
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Language, speaking, words, conversation, have the ability to create.
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And today we're going to gain a bit more understanding on what this means for a culture of honor.
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This may sound a bit odd, but one day when I was on a run, I wasn't listening to any music, just kind of in my thoughts, and I had this vision surface in my mind.
For context, I was thinking about a friend of mine who seemed to be going through just a tough season. He'd experienced some tough moments in his upbringing and I was just kind of praying for him while I ran.
And a vision surfaced in my mind.
And what I saw was two teachers in a teachers lounge. And they were talking.
It was at the beginning of the school year and they were talking about which students they were getting in their class.
One of the teachers said, "I'm getting (let's call my friend) Theo in my class."
And the other teacher responds with a big exhale and big eyes and says "Oh Theo. He's a bad kid."
.. And in this visualization it's like everything became so clear to me.
That that's what happens. It's these moments where the trajectory of a life are shifted.
In either a positive direction or a negative one.
And as I kept running it became so clear the two paths that go from this moment.
So this was a moment of dishonor.
The teacher described Theo's character as "bad" - described who he was as "bad"
If she'd described his actions, that would have been fine.
But by saying "four simple words" he's. a. bad. kid. death was just spoken over him.
(And stick with me here, this may seem over the top, but stick with me)
He wasn't in the room. He didn't hear it. He may never hear that.
But the other teacher did.
And here's where the two paths split.
It's up to this other teacher to decide. To honor or to dishonor.
To go down the path of dishonor -
To allow this other teacher's view point of Theo to dictate her own view point. And if so this is what happens.
Before this teacher has EVEN met Theo.
Before Theo walks into her class room - he's been written off. He's the bad kid.
And her thoughts towards him are guarded, definitely not believing in him, and ready to put him in the back of the class and make sure he doesn't act out.
He's written off. Not by anything she's seen Theo do, but because of a filter she allowed someone ELSE to place on him.
The school year goes by and he's just now a child growing into that identity.
He takes that with him into the next school year and only ever behaves in accordance to who he was made to feel he was.
(What the teachers might not know is that Theo's dad left his mom last year.
So it's just been him and his mom. And he acted out last year because of a circumstance in his life he's heartbroken by. What the teachers don't know is that over the summer, Theo spent a lot of time with his extended family, healed a bit, and is now in a way different head space than he was last school year. But because this teacher has already written him off - it doesn't matter. Because he's the bad kid. He had an out of character season of his life - that has now dictated his future trajectory - because dishonor was chosen.
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And I know this sounds over the top. But this is what happens. Someone has an out of character moment, they walk into work a bit off because something happened in their personal life, and someone takes offense to this out of character moment. And word starts spreading. Gossip …
Words… language… the power of life and death are in the tongue.
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So let's go back to that vision I had and see what the other path looks like.
So I saw the moment where the one teacher said 'OHHH Theo. He's a bad kid."
And then I saw the other teacher choose to have the self awareness, the culture of honor inside of her to say "Well we have the opportunity to build his character up. That's what we're here for."
She chooses to believe in Theo.
To give him the benefit of the doubt.
To stay curious to finding out who he is from HER OWN experience. Not just what someone else told her.
And Theo walks into her classroom on the first day of school. She hasn't written him off. He's in a much better head space this school year. And she sits him up front. Engages with him. Laughs, teaches, empowers, affirms.
And his trajectory is set towards heading to middle school and high school as a young man who believes in himself, who knows what it's like to overcome obstacles and move through them well, who knows he's believed in, loved, can learn, grow and contribute.
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These small moments that we think don't matter.
They do.
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When someone cuts us off while driving.
What if we didn't call them an idiot.
They're not an idiot. That's not who they are.
They just cut you off.
Calling them an idiot isn't going to help anyone.
So even if you don't believe me that the power of words over people don't really matter,
Then what do you have to lose if you just didn't dishonor WHO someone is with your words?
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Or
When an in-law oversteps boundaries again,
When a child goes through a season of temper tantrums at night,
When a teenager acts out of character a few times over the last month, don't write them off
When one of your athletes doesn't perform well,
When your boss disrespects you,
When a colleague makes you look stupid,
When a spouse loses your trust,
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What if in these moments - at the minimum,
We kept our words ABOUT THEM honoring.
We can still talk about their actions.
Yes and we'll get into that.
This isn't sweeping things under the rug.
It's raising the bare minimum back up to honor.
At minimum.
Honor who people are with your words.
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Because what might we discover?
When we say words, that maybe no one else will hear?
Speaking life? Because remember we have the ability to CREATE with our words!
Speak into your teenager's character -
Speak into your child
Speak into your spouse
Speak into your in-laws
Speak into your athletes you're raising up
Speak into your employees you're developing
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My question is - what if?
We don't do this enough to know for sure, but what if we tried?
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And on that note, that's all for today. I'll see you soon.