Going to the Word for Our Words: Understanding the Source and Power of Our Words

From Edie: A reflective foundation for Christian writers, exploring Jesus as the Word and the source of all language—inviting writers to understand the power of words and root their writing in Him.

Going to the Word for Our Words: Understanding the Source and Power of Our Words

by Audrey Frank @AudreyCFrank

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God. The Word was with God in the beginning (John 1:1-2).

Last year, we looked at Spiritual Practices For Writers. Join me in 2026 as we focus on just one practice all year long: going to the Word for our words. But first, who is “the Word”? What is the origin of this great power we wield called words?

As we stand on the threshold of a new year, peer with me into the mysterious beginning of it all. That pen you hold, the MacBook you’ve been saving for, all started here.

There was once a world with no words. In the beginning, the earth was without shape and empty. Darkness was over the watery surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the water (see Genesis 1:1-2). I’m not sure I can even imagine this.

Yet in the dark, shapeless emptiness, God was there. He used words to shape and fill the earth. The first words He said were, Let there be light (Genesis 1:3).

Words were God’s first act of power.

With those words, He would create word-bearers, and in His generosity and love, grant them the power to wield those words to bring shape to the world and fill it. But His image-bearers, those humans gifted with His gifts, would use the power of words to destroy the world.

So He came into the world to stop the madness, the wild wielding of words, to disarm the bearers of words meant to build up, yet used to demolish. He who was there in the beginning, fully God, came to redeem us and our words. And His name is the Word.

Now the Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We saw his glory—the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth, who came from the Father. John testified about him and shouted out, “This one was the one about whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is greater than I am, because he existed before me.’” For we have all received from his fullness one gracious gift after another. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came about through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. The only one, himself God, who is in closest fellowship with the Father, has made God known (John 1:14-18).

Jesus has made God known to us. We, stewards of words, must understand this elemental truth: the Word is a person, and He is Jesus, fully God. Writers bear great power, the power that was from the beginning, the might that brings shape to the world and fills it with good things. What potential Christian writers have if we practice going to the Word for our words! What might we shape this new year? With what will we fill the world in 2026 through the sacred craft of writing for Him?

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Going to the Word for Our Words: Understanding the Source and Power of Our Words from @AudreyCFrank on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Audrey Frank is an author, speaker, and storyteller. The stories she shares are brave and true. They give voice to those whose words are silenced by shame, the hard things in life that don’t make sense, and the losses that leave us wondering if we will survive. Audrey and her family have spent over twenty years living and working among different cultures and world views, and she has found that God’s story of redemption spans every geography and culture. He is the God of Instead, giving honor instead of shame, gladness instead of mourning, hope instead of despair. Although she has three different degrees in communication and intercultural studies, Audrey’s greatest credential is that she is known and loved by the One who made her.

Audrey is the author of Covered Glory: The Face of Honor and Shame in the Muslim World (Harvest House Publishers), an outpouring of Audrey’s heart to introduce others to the God of Instead. Shame is not unique to the developing world, the plight of the women behind veils, young girls trafficked across borders; shame is lurking in hearts everywhere. Through powerful stories from women around the world, Covered Glory illuminates the power of the Gospel to remove shame, giving honor instead. Available at favorite booksellers: BARNES & NOBLE, BOOKS A MILLION, AMAZON.