The Power of Persuasion

Every good writer has the power of persuasion at his or her disposal. To learn that our words are not just words is an important lesson for the writer. More than that, though, the person who has realized the power of his or her words, will use them to fight good causes and not merely to prosper one's own career.

The pastor at our local Calvary Chapel gave me a good reminder, Thursday night, of how words can be powerful and last forever. He spoke about Judas, Pontius Pilate, the angry crucifixion mob and even some of the disciples whose words live forever in infamy for the evil or for the good. Generations will remember our Lord's mother Mary's words, now referred to as the "Magnificat", or Peter's confession that Jesus is the Lord, the Christ, the Son of God.

We also have some modern day examples of people whose words were captured forever on the Internet or cellphone text messages. Their words condemned them to criminal sentences.

As a writer, I pray that the "words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart" are acceptable in my Savior's sight. I pray that the words I pen may be used for His causes and His eternal purpose. I pray that I may edify and not tear down, that I may expose but not ridicule, that I may encourage but not embarrass. I pray, along with some of my friends, that my speech whether verbal or written, may always be "seasoned with grace". Not only that, but may I skillfully write so that the message of my heart may be heard and understood--and that people will be touched and moved by the words that form on the tip of my pen.

Ultimately, what we write defines us even though when we write, we do so to define others and other things.

Consider these quotes:

Words-so innocent and powerless as they are, standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them.--Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Then pen is a formidable weapon, but a man can kill himself with it a great deal more easily than he can other people. --George Dennison Prentice.