Are you talking up your business?

Talk your business UP!

This post may not quite be what you think. We’re not talking about going around town to network, and “talk your business up” to fellow business owners. We’re not talking about going to forums and spreading the good word about your new and fancy review website in which you are affiliate-reviewing all sorts of products. What we’re talking here is some good ol’ fashioned, Biblical, positive-confession of the mouth.

There are no less than 15 Bible verses that discuss the power of the tongue, and the impact that words can have in your own life, as well in the lives of others. Before I was a Christian, I had one of the nastiest mouths you could find. Well, when you don’t know Jesus, you don’t have a moral compass aside from what the world tells you is good, nor do you have much of a spiritual guide for that matter. As a non-Christian, Hollywood movies promote and idealize cussing and cursing, using the Lord’s name in vain, and similarly. When you don’t believe in God or you don’t know Jesus, I speak from experience in saying that one doesn’t believe it’s even remotely possible that words can have a spiritual impact upon your life. And yet, as Believers in Jesus, and belief in the Bible being the holy, inspired, written Word of God, we must consider that the Bible says:

It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person. (Matthew 15:11)

When I started my first Internet business endeavors years ago, my own brother said, “You’re such a dork. That’ll never work.” No joke, he said that! (Well, actually, he even went a little above and beyond that, but you get the point…) I was mad too, because I was excitedly sharing with him all this stuff I was learning, and how other people were already making tons of money online. He mocked me and said, “Uhhhh huh, yeah OK, sure…” Just like an older brother, huh? 🙂 If this had been 15 years earlier, I probably would have laid into him with a tongue lashing.

As a Christian who has had his own struggles with the tongue, instead of the frustrated and defensive response I just said, “Well, I guess only time will tell. We’ll have to wait and see. But I think you’re wrong.” Then, I mentally said to myself, “I rebuke those words in the mighty name of Jesus. This will work, and I am going to be successful and prosperous with this Internet stuff, so help me Jesus.” Luckily, I had the full support of my wife, even as friends and family members quietly doubted, or even blatantly rolled their eyes at me or mocked me for my “dreaminess”.

Too often, Christians make the mistake of forgetting that the power of the tongue works both ways, and is a two way street. As stated in James 3:10, “From the same mouth come blessing and cursing”. Christians frequently forget that it is not enough simply to not curse or cuss, or to not say the Lord’s name in vain… instead, we must remember that aside from having the ability to curse us, the tongue has the power to bless us. However, the only way we can bless ourselves with our tongue is in 2 ways: 1) Talking to God, aka prayer, aka relationship with Him. 2) Positively confessing words of positivity, grace, and prosperity in our lives.

James 3:9 says that, “With it (our tongue) we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.” So, how do we bless God? How do you bless the creator of the heavens and the earth? How in the world could you possibly bless the very person who created you? Those are great questions, so let’s get into them:

He gives us free will, right? We are blessed with the ability to either run towards Him, or run from Him, right? Before Jesus came to earth and died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin, there was a separation between man and God, correct? And when Jesus paid for our sins, the cross essentially created a bridgeway, to bridge that chasm between ourselves and God, so that we now and finally have a way and a path to Him, right? So, what is the one thing we can do to bless God? Use our free will and make the choice to have that relationship with Him.

So, the clear and obvious way to bless ourselves with the tongue is by our relationship with Him. Praying to God, letting Him into our hearts, and heaping all our cares, problems, and worries upon Him. God will shoulder the load, and He will do it with joy, just as in the story of the footprints in the sand. Talk with God, pray to Him, and let Him know what troubles your heart. That is the first and best way to be blessed by the power of your tongue.

The second way, as mentioned above, is more easily forgotten and less easily adhered to. How many times do you find yourself saying something like, “I am such an idiot…”? I admit that I do this altogether too much, even though my wife and I have what you would probably call self-deprecating senses of humor. 🙂 The difference is that sometimes you say stuff like that joking around and being silly, or even trying to prove a point… a point such as the fact that we are meager and lowly sinners, who can’t compare to the almighty God. Like when I am trying to prove the point that we could never be pure enough to enter the kingdom of God without His favor, and without the work of Jesus on the cross… again, referring to when I say something like, “I’m an idiot” to prove that point. Other times however, we may be down, depressed, or mentally and physically beat, saying things to ourselves like, “I am such a loser”… unfortunately, meaning every word we say.

Guess what though? God doesn’t like His beloved to be talked about like that! Guess what else? YOU are his beloved! The same as God doesn’t want you to speak about others that way, neither does He want you talking about yourself in such fashion.

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. (Ephesians 4:29)

When you speak poorly of yourself, or make negative confessions about yourself such as, “I am a loser”, are you a person who can “hear” that confession? Of course you are! Similarly, is that corrupting talk giving grace to you, who hears it? Of course not! Just as Matthew tells us in 15:10-11, “Hear and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”

Don’t defile yourself! Don’t defile your business and your efforts! Every day, positively confess with your mouth and tongue success and prosperity over your business. Each and every day, you should look to cover your business with Biblical affirmations, and positive, spiritual blessings and prosperity over your work and the fruits of your labor. Use the power of God to confess success over your business! As discussed in this blog post, God desires that you should prosper…

Similarly, if you start doubting and confessing negatives over your business, you will reap those fruits as well. “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.” (Proverbs 18:21). You will bear fruit from the seeds you plant! So why not plant seeds of success and prosperity from the fruit of your tongue? Whatever fruit it bears, you will be eating it, so why not make it a lovely, tasty, thirst-quenching, positively healthy fruit to eat?

Positively confess from your mouth words of success, prosperity, and blessing over your business. I always recommend taking those confessions and writing them on a sticky note and sticking them around your computer. When you do that, you are reminded to periodically take pause, spending time with God and talking to him about your business, as well as being reminded to speak aloud that success and prosperity with your mighty tongue.

Thank you SO very much for spending the time to read this, and may God bless you wildly in your online endeavors, and beyond… GOD BLESS!