By Sylvia Billington, Jubilee Church Wirral

A man’s stomach will be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; He will be satisfied with the consequence of his words. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it and indulge it will eat its fruit and bear the consequences of their words.

Proverbs 18:20-21, AMP

Our words are powerful. We can be quick to speak life and proclaim truth. Every one of us needs people in our lives speaking life into us, reminding us of what is true, and encouraging us with positive words. Life can be so tough when you have no-one to speak truth and hope in your challenges. The scripture above encourages us to mind the words we speak when trouble hits us.

But whatever [word] comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this is what defiles and dishonours the man.
Matthew 15:18 AMP

Sometime back, after having my baby. I was hit with postnatal depression. I didn’t want to be around people, especially those that I knew.

I used to lock myself in the house, not opening the curtains, or just go on long walks, especially around New Brighton. That was me trying to escape from something I couldn’t put my hands on.

I couldn’t sleep well and I was sooo tired all the time. One day, someone came to visit me and asked if they could have one of the kids for the afternoon (this was to help me) but my head thought otherwise and I replied in a very rude way, a word that had only two letters – NO!

It’s  not what I said but how I said it. I felt so dishonoured and as if I had defiled my body. I felt empty knowing that I had hurt someone else through the word of my mouth.

I realised, that wasn’t me and I was sick. I needed help and I allowed God to help me. I opened up and cried to Him, told Him how I felt and God started working in me. My heart was troubled, He comforted me with His word.

This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him And saved him from all his troubles.
Psalms 34:6 AMP

God knows our troubles. When we open up to Him, He’ll use other people to encourage us through His word.

Allow God to use you in a positive way, don’t feel like you can’t speak Life to others. After you’ve been comforted by God, He will use you to comfort His people.

Blessed [gratefully praised and adored] be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforts and encourages us in every trouble so that we will be able to comfort and encourage those who are in any kind of trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 AMP

Stay blessed

Sylvia Billington, Jubilee Church Wirral