This article is part of our Made to Create article series. Read the other articles in the series here:

• “Made to Create” by Ashlee Gadd
• “Making Music for God’s Glory” by Caroline Cobb
• “Order from Chaos” by Abbey Wedgeworth
• "Opening Our Eyes to Art" by Sarah Shin
• "A Welcoming Home" by Rachael Milner

 

Made to Create: A Liturgy for Your Words

With words, you created.
With words, you contained
The sky, the seas,
The earth, the trees
Sprouted up when
You called them by name.

You have made yourself known
Through these sounds
That come from human mouths,
And by human hands
then written down.
You condescend
To your creation
Through
words.

And then,
The Word made flesh
Came as babe
And grew up as a man.
And took the cross
To bear our sin.
Who took a human heart and mouth
To redeem them!

The Word!

And every day, in the same vein
We imitate your creation.
But not perfectly,
for this function of
image-bearing
Has been
perverted
by our sin.

The ways I speak the truth or hide it.
When I text with malice or humble kindness,
By the tone to my husband I respond,
With the words I train my daughter and son.
By the way I gossip with my mom.
God, these words can be poison or balm!

These words can create and bring you glory.
And these words can distract and can destroy.
Our words build up, or they tear down,
Our tongues set fires and can put them out.
And now, these words are all around us.
Typed, and texted, and written down.

Creator God, make us more like you.
Create in us hearts that are new,
Transformed, to pour out your beautiful truth

Through our mouths
To these image-bearers
you have placed
Around us.
For you have created
and have crowned us,
As creators and namers,
Powerful makers,
Like you!

What a responsibility. What an honor.
We recognize the burden and the power
Of our words.

Through these words,
And the Word
You gave us as our own,
Every day, we will aim
to create,
To make you better known.

Amen.

 

Verse Inspiration

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
Genesis 1:3

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Genesis 1:26–27

Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.
Genesis 2:19

Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.
Psalm 8:5

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
John 1:1–3

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14

Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
James 3:4–8

 

Meet the Author

Kate Lab is a poet and artist based in Lancaster, PA. She is the wife of Joe who pastors their local church and the mother of two sweet kiddos, Ethan and Eliza. She loves theology, her church, coffee, tall trees, Philadelphia sports (that’s a love/hate relationship), and fictional worlds like Middle Earth. You can see more of her poetry and art at kategoescreating.com and follow her on Facebook and Instagram.