Word and words
“God and His Word are one. To trust in God is to trust in what He has spoken. Faith is based on God's word. Christ dwells in the heart of the believer to the extent His word indwells in him. The apostle Paul exhorts the believer to seek God's word as the possession of the heart. "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly" (Col. 3: 16). Christ abides in us when His word indwells the heart, because the word releases the presence of Christ. The spoken word is the extension of the incarnate Word (Logos).” (Father Eusebius Stephanou)
“Fr. Georges Florovsky described doctrine as a “verbal icon” of Christ. The iconic nature of words makes them to be among the most important elements in all creation. Perhaps a particularly acute aspect of words is their ability to distort and misrepresent. And so, from the earliest times, there has been a prohibition against lying. The importance of speaking the truth is emphasized repeatedly in the epistles of the New Testament, even though it might easily seem to be a minor matter of morality. In our culture, words cascade at a never-ending pace, many of them disincarnate without reference to anything true or real. Arguments abound. Words are spoken like weapons, used for effect and not for meaning. It is significant that Christ describes the devil as the “father of lies.” In Genesis, he speaks the world’s first lie: “God has not said…” He is the anti-logos.” (Father Stephen Freeman)
“…we must be watchful, “for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (vs. 34). Does good treasure come out of us, or do we speak idle words (Matthew 12:35-36)? The Lord reminds us that we must give an account even of the inner thoughts behind our words (Matthew 12:36-37). Either we condemn ourselves or we save our souls by drawing life from the Source of good.” (Dynamis 8/1/2020)
"The more pure our hearts, the more pure our speech; the more considerate and thoughtful and recollected we are through a life of prayer and contemplation, the less harm our words will cause." (Archimandrite Vassilios Papavassiliou)
“These three things God requires of all the baptized: right faith in the heart, truth on the tongue, and temperance in the body." (St. Gregory the Theologian)
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.” (John 5:24-30)
“Christ's words, His sayings, His teachings, His parables, are not simply pearls of wisdom. They are not like the sayings of wise men, or good principles to live by, or subjects for pondering and meditation. These are words that are charged with the power of God Himself to create and to recreate. Therefore, as Christ says, the one who hears His word and believes will have eternal life, having already been resurrected, recreate, renewed, and transformed by the Word.” (Father Stephen De Young)
“We’re all going to be resurrected. Sounds good, right? Unfortunately, for many of us it will not be good, but it will be because of our own choice. Christ says in John 5:29 those who have done good will experience the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil will experience the resurrection of condemnation. The disposition of our heart toward God in this life, and how it leads us to love Him and others, or how it leads us to reject Him and others, will be what determines our experience of eternity.” (Sacramental Living Ministries)
“Apostle Paul reminds us that “if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged” by God (1 Corinthians 11:31). When we judge ourselves honestly, with God’s help, we naturally turn to Him and confess our sins as an effort to restore our spiritual health. God is faithful to forgive and to heal (1 Jn 1:9), and in the process we find that we are not condemned.” (Dynamis 7/23/2018)
“What we don’t properly understand is that judgment should lead us to a restoration or improvement in a relationship. We live with the tension of knowing God’s judgment hangs over us while at the same time knowing that forgiveness is readily available to us too.” (Foundation Study Bible, Zephaniah 3:8)