Speaking The Language Of Hope - The One Year Salt and Light Devotional

Ephesians 4:29

Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. (Ephesians 4:29)

THE LANGUAGE OF HEAVEN IS a language of hope. As with any language, it requires some rewiring in our brains and some training in the way we think to be able to speak it well. And though we speak it for the benefit of other people, we also need to understand that we speak it for ourselves. Why? Because we are just as in need of hope as anyone else. Our thought processes are just as in need of reform. We need an inner renaissance working within us, a manifestation of our new birth, just as certainly as we long to see new birth coming into the hearts and lives of others. We need to immerse ourselves in an entirely new way to see.

Language has that power. The language of hope is revolutionary in the way we see, the words we speak, and the lives we encourage and change. It comforts those who need comforting (2 Corinthians 1:3-4), unites those who are divided (John 17:20-23), brings life to those who are dying (Romans 10:13-15), blesses those who are full of curses (Romans 12:14), and builds up those who have been torn down far too many times (Ephesians 4:29). It captures the essence of heaven and brings glimpses of it to earth. It aligns the environment of this world to the room temperature of God’s Kingdom. It changes the culture.

That’s good to know. Missiologists have been working on the challenges of cultural change for a long time, and they have a lot of wonderful insights. But real change begins one mouth at a time, one new vision voiced into the lives of those who need a fresh breath from God. It begins at street level with those who carry the culture of the Kingdom within them and know how to express it well. It begins with people like you.

{Holy Spirit, may my vision, words, attitudes—everything—reflect the essence of who you are. Align my thoughts with yours. Fill my mind, heart, and voice with hope. Amen.