Imitating God's Stewardship in Creation - Part One

Creation Stewardship #2
The Principle of Giving First
December 2021
                                                                                      
In the Biblical Creation, when God said, “let there be light,” he instituted the principle of Giving First! Giving is a desire from the heart to freely give something like a present to someone or something. What exactly did God give as a gift in Creation? It was the gift of – WORDS.
 
Throughout the Bible, we are reminded of how powerful words can be. They can be wonderful, as when someone blesses us with reciprocal words of love, or words can be dangerous and traumatic as in the heat of anger and hatred. The scriptures state that life and death are in the power of words, no matter if you say them aloud or in a whisper. We know that man primarily communicates with words, but when spelled, hand-signed, or written, words have meanings that affect the heart, mind, and soul.
 
The action and effect of our words can result in either physical or spiritual death. We either believe and trust what someone says, or if we believe something that isn’t factual, we can become disillusioned with people and life itself.
 
How powerful are our words? How do we know? What is the absolute end of them? No matter what language we speak, according to the Bible, on the day of judgment our words will testify for or against us! (Matthew 12:35-37) God will judge everyone according to their words, especially the ones he considers idle, useless, nonbeneficial, gossip, baseless, rumors, worthless, trifling, non-edifying, pointless, and petty. These words are toxic and create consistent generational problems.
 
As I stated in my book, Return to the Table – Beware the Presence (a Christian thriller) the foul and disastrous words spoken to others by a character named Christian, came back to cannibalize him, their rightful owner!
 
Lately, and too often, argumentative, and dangerous words have resulted in road rage incidents while driving. They have caused accidents, racist verbal altercations, fights, murders, and prison. The Bible clarifies how we arrive at this point, “As someone thinks in his heart so is he, because out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Matthew 12:34, James 3:8 KJV)
 
Unfortunately, ill words affect not only the person who says them but also those receiving them, including within their family. A lot of people believe that if they tear you down to change your way of thinking or behavior to their beliefs, they will often say that it’s constructive criticism. However, if you think about it, constructive means to build up something or someone, and destructive means to tear down something or someone. Even pet’s know the difference!
 
Words that women speak are equally effective or ineffective just as much as men. The Bible states that a wise woman, “…openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.” (Proverbs 31:26 KJV) Simply put, she thinks well before she speaks. The Bible also states that a wise woman’s husband and family will speak wonderful words of praise to honor her. (Proverbs 31:28-29)  The opposite of this type of woman is also in the Bible. It states that “It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife.” (Proverbs 21:9 ESV)  Unfortunately, there are women and men who speak flattering words so they can deceive, lie, and sway people to destroy another person’s character and livelihood. (Proverbs 6:24, Psalms 12:3)
 
It takes time and patience to learn how to give words of kindness, love, peace, blessings, gratitude, mercy, grace, and encouragement. Practice being the first to say to God and others, “good morning, I love you, thank you, I appreciate you, I trust you, excuse me, or forgive me.” Be sure to praise God and others for their accomplishments and talents. We will find that all these words will soon become reciprocal, given to us as we need them.
 

When we think of God’s goodness and all the things that he has gifted to us, we can say with love, “thank you, Lord.” It’s not that we loved God first, because the Bible states that he first loved us. (1 John 4:19) From God’s heart, he thought of us and his son before Creation. Just as God gifted and gave the Word (Jesus) before the foundation of the world, he also began Creation in the same manner – by Giving First through his words. (1 John 1:1)

 
In this Christmas season, we celebrate the birth of Jesus and know that God gave first when he sent his only begotten son, Jesus, the Word, into the world. It’s entirely your choice if you want to live with God eternally through Jesus Christ. The Bible states that to receive God’s gift of salvation and eternal life, we must repent of the sin of unbelief, and honestly believe in our hearts that Jesus Christ is the son of God and was raised by God from the dead. (Romans 10:9) When we do this, we are verbally gifting our daily and eternal life back to God. Then, we receive another gift, his Holy Spirit, who will guide us daily, as we read the Bible. Even when we fail, God’s merciful and loving heart has already said that he will forgive us. Each day, wisely and carefully choose the gift of your words!
 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from my family to yours!