I pray 2023 is going better than any year before. May this year be the year that you grow more in strength and wisdom than you have before. Can you believe we are in February already? I'm not sure how it ended up being the month of relationships and love, but I wanted to share my heart with you on the matter.
This month, and even this year, could you take a moment and pause before you agree, and could you care enough about your life to protect who speaks over it? Read that again. Protect your life from the words of others. Relationships are a powerful blessing from God. He is triune in being, and we are the imago dei – which simply means we are His image bearers. But greater than that simplicity, we have His resurrection power gushing in and through us (Philippians 3:7-11).
We also have an even greater power. Our speech. We have the ability to speak life and death, without ever physically shedding blood. “Wise words satisfy like a good meal; the right words bring satisfaction. The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences. The man who finds a wife finds a treasure, and he receives favor from the Lord. The poor plead for mercy; the rich answer with insults. There are “friends” who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother.” Proverbs 18:20-24 (NLT)
I really want you to be aware of who you invite to your table and what we say and come into agreement over. The power of agreement is truly as serious as life and death. For example, when we gather at our girl luncheons, our hubbies become the topic of discussion. Sometimes, it’s our children. Many of us can even begin to discuss work and our country. How quickly it can turn into a moaning or criticism of their faults and then the biggest impact comes – when we agree about how 'they are all the same', 'they will never listen', 'the company abuses you', 'the government is so disastrous'. These seemingly harmless moments of venting are actually a way to get you to agree on a negative outcome over a person. And because marriage and relationships bring bonding, these words start to manifest as our reality. The next time we sit down, let's rather pray for God to change us and guide our men, teach our children, give wisdom to our government and that we would have favour and influence in our workplaces.
Think about this. God spoke the entire creation into being – and then, He gave us the same power and ability. Let's not allow the enemy to use our mouth for his dirty work, but rather, pray about everything. Yes! I pray our power supply challenges be resolved by God's supernatural intervention. I pray children return home to loving parents and, in turn, show respect and love to their parents, so they may be blessed with long life. I pray husbands and wives would be able to speak through their problems and pray through their challenges. Most of all, I pray we would have wisdom about what we agree on – that we would quickly have discernment where friendships or relationships should be ended and where forgiveness and love should be shared to restore us to each other. Being at peace with people in your life means you can remain focused on yourself and Jesus, and your relationship. When we stew in offense and anger, we lose focus and get stuck in our pain. That was never God's design for us.
I’m praying your luncheons become powerful moments of testimonies where you can share about God's faithfulness in all these areas of your life.
Blessings and love
Cindy
Women of Reverence welcomes Cindy Osborne as a guest contributor.
Cindy Osborne is married to Nicholas and together they are blessed with 4 beautiful children. She works as a learning content developer and trainer. Her passion in life is to help others by sharing information with them that makes an impact and difference in their lives, enabling them to help themselves. She manages a monthly charity drive for an orphanage in Ivory Park where she simply asks anyone to help these young children who cannot help themselves.
Cindy enjoys a good cup of coffee, reading, listening to CHRISTIAN podcasts and by loving Jesus in her best way possible.