The Power of Words

The Power of Words

In the April 1986 General Conference Pres. Ezra T. Benson gave a landmark address on The Power of The Word.  His message was that the solutions to many of the world’s problems could be found in the Word of God as given by ancient and modern prophets.

But there is another aspect to the power and beauty of the word.  It stems from the idea that God uses words, and authorizes his servants to use words, to perform much of His work.

I have participated in several Aaronic Priesthood quorum lessons this year where we have tried to impress upon the young men the importance of using clean, carefully conceived language in their day-to-day communications.   We have explained that one of the primary motivations for being careful with our language is this notion that it is through language, or words, that God does His work, and therefore language is, in a way, sacred, and should be respected and revered as miraculous and powerful.

Man is created in the image of God.  We inherit all of our physical characteristics from God, arms, legs, hair, eyes, etc.  We also inherit our emotional responses from our Heavenly Parents.  The things that cause us to feel happiness or misery, joy or grief, are the same things that cause God to feel those same emotions.  That is why He knows so much about them, and why He has so much advice and counsel for us regarding them. 

Another trait that we inherit from God is the ability to use spoken and written language.  God’s children are the only living things we know of that can communicate and record and transmit thoughts through language.  It is a divine gift.  It is how Gods communicate (ie. Abr 3:24).   Language is sacred, and when we abuse language we offend God in the desecration of one of his great powers.

From the beginning God has used language, or words, to create things, to organize matter, to move elements, and control weather.  From all the accounts we have he simply speaks the words and things happen.

The scriptures are full of examples of this.  Here are a few of my favorites.

“And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”  (Mark 4:39,41)

“For the brother of Jared said unto the mountain Zerin, Remove—and it was removed.”  (Ether 12:30)

“. . . we truly can command in the name of Jesus and the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea.”  (Jacob 4:6)

“For behold, by the power of his word man came upon the face of the earth, which earth was created by the power of his word. Wherefore, if God being able to speak and the world was, and to speak and man was created, O then, why not able to command the earth, or the workmanship of his hands upon the face of it, according to his will and pleasure?”  (Jacob 4:9)

“If God had commanded me to do all things I could do them. If he should command me that I should say unto this water, be thou earth, it should be earth; and if I should say it, it would be done.”  (1 Ne 17:50)

“And when Alma had said these words, Zeezrom leaped upon his feet, and began to walk;” (Alma 15:11)

We clearly live below our privilege when it comes to our use of language.  When he visited the survivors at Bountiful the Savior spoke words to them that they could sense the meaning of but that were so marvelous they could not repeat or record them.

And when he had said these words, he himself also knelt upon the earth; and behold he prayed unto the Father, and the things which he prayed cannot be written, and the multitude did bear record who heard him.

And after this manner do they bear record: The eye hath never seen, neither hath the ear heard, before, so great and marvelous things as we saw and heard Jesus speak unto the Father;

And no tongue can speak, neither can there be written by any man, neither can the hearts of men conceive so great and marvelous things as we both saw and heard Jesus speak; and no one can conceive of the joy which filled our souls at the time we heard him pray for us unto the Father.  (3 Ne 17:15-17)

As an endorsement of the sanctity and divinity of language Christ himself is referred to by the prophets as “The Word”.

In the Lectures on Faith the Prophet Joseph Smith taught:

It is by words, instead of exerting his physical powers, with which every being works when he works by faith.  God said, “Let there be light: and there was light.”  Joshua spake, and the great lights which God had created stood still.  Elijah commanded, and the heavens were stayed for the space of three years and six months, so that it did not rain:  he again commanded and the heavens gave forth rain.  All this was done by faith.  And the Savior says: “If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, say unto this mountain, ‘Remove,’ and it will remove; or say to that sycamine tree, ‘Be ye plucked up, and planted in the midst of the sea,’ and it shall obey you.”  Faith, then, works by words; and with these its mightiest works have been, and will be, performed.

                                                  (Lectures on Faith, Lecture 7, p. 72-73)

Language is clearly one of the things God loves.  All of his children are given the ability to use language.  Language can invite the spirit which is the infallible communicator of truth.  Words can teach, convey instructions, and prompt changes in people for both good or ill.  Words can have a healing influence, calming both men and beasts. 

Words can also inflame and ignite anger and contention.  As he does with all of God’s greatest gifts Satan contaminates, counterfeits, and abuses language to suit his evil purposes of driving away the spirit and leading men and women away from that which is good and godlike. 

Satan understands the power of the spoken word in advancing the Kingdom of God on earth.  He attempts to hinder the progress of the work by preventing audible speech, as the boy Joseph Smith testified.

“I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak.”  (J.S. History 1:15)

Alma used the same tactic to put an end to the voice of Satan’s servant when he pronounced a curse of dumbness upon Korihor, (Alma 30:49-50)  Notice that the curse was administered by Alma merely saying the words.

God is concerned enough with our language that he warns us of the consequences of offensive or even casual use of his gift.  Our use of words will be one of the criteria upon which we are judged.  The Savior taught:

“But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.  For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”  (Matt 12:36-37)

And Alma taught:

“For our words will condemn us, yea, all our works will condemn us; we shall not be found spotless; and our thoughts will also condemn us;”  (Alma 12:14)

So what should we teach our children about their use of language?  How do we motivate them to choose uplifting speech and to recoil at vulgar or offensive language? 

Teach them that we are the offspring of God, created in his image.  We have inherited from him his divine power of speech.  We should have a reverence for language because it is sacred.  We should use the most beautiful and edifying words we know because they are God’s gift, and, when used with proper authority, are the means by which he and his servants bring forth their mighty works.