War of Words - The Word in the Flesh (Chapter 3)

"The Word became flesh and dwelt among us." John 1:14

It's a good thing that God doesn't demand that we meet his standard for communication in our own strength, for we are utterly incapable of doing so! Our communication problems cannot be conquered with adequate skills, training, and vocabulary. No, our war of words is a spiritual battle, a heart issue, one that can only be won because the Living Word came to provide what we need to speak as he designed. Jesus provides the following resources in our struggle with our words:
1. Hope - Biblical hope is a confident expectation of a guaranteed result. "In him we can win the war of words. We do not have to settle for bitter, angry, destructive, divisive communication. . .No, we live and speak with faith and courage, believing that something better can be achieved because of what he has done." (p. 41)

2. Riches - Ephesians 1:15-23 says that we have glorious riches in Christ, everything we need to live and speak in a godly manner. "The Lord will never put you in a situation without giving you everything you need to do what he has called you to do."  (p. 43)

3. Power - "God hasn't issued us a series of grand and lofty directives and then sat back to see if we would obey them. No, he understands that our sin has rendered us powerless, and that we will not know what we need to know and cannot do what we need to do apart from him. . .The Word has made us his dwelling place so that we would have the power to speak as he designed." (p. 44)

4. Rule - We will never encounter a situation that is not under God's rule. Our words, though, often indicate that we are trying to control a situation to get what we want, rather than trusting in the Lord's will and purposes. Christ calls us to submit ourselves to him and live for his glory, not our own.