Day 25 – The Power of a Timely Word
Scripture: A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver. Proverbs 25:11 (ESV)
Devotional
There are moments in life when words don’t just communicate they transform. Think of the time a friend whispered encouragement when you were ready to quit, or when a parent’s guidance rescued you from a bad decision. Words, when spoken at the right time, have a power that feels almost sacred.
Solomon compares a well-placed word to apples of gold in settings of silver not just valuable, but exquisitely beautiful. He isn’t talking about casual chatter or empty affirmations. He’s talking about words so precise, so Spirit-timed, that they heal wounds, redirect paths, or even change destinies.
Here’s the trap: most of us underestimate the weight of our words. We throw them around in frustration, or we withhold them when someone desperately needs encouragement. We forget that our mouths are either instruments of grace or weapons of harm.
Psychologists tell us that a single negative word can stick to the brain like Velcro, while positive words slide off like Teflon unless they are repeated with care. This is why a single careless comment can haunt someone for years, but a word of wisdom, spoken at the right moment, can anchor them for a lifetime.
The Spirit of God invites us to become stewards of words. To slow down, to listen, to discern when the Spirit nudges us: “Speak now. Say this. Hold back.” Because sometimes silence is golden, but other times silence is cruelty.
- “Your words are not neutral they are either seeds or daggers.”
- “Silence can be wisdom, but silence can also be cowardice.”
- “One Spirit-timed word can do what ten thousand empty phrases cannot.”
Application
- Discern Before You Speak … Ask: “Am I speaking from frustration or from faith?”
- Be Spirit-Timed … Before responding, breathe and pray: “Lord, is now the time?”
- Plant Words of Life … This week, intentionally speak encouragement to someone on the verge of quitting.
Prayer: Father, teach me the weight of my words. Guard me from careless speech that wounds, and open my mouth to speak life, wisdom, and truth when the moment calls for it. May my words be like gold in silver timely, beautiful, and Spirit-breathed. In Jesus’ name, amen.
A Spirit-timed word can heal deeper than time itself.