Words are powerful. They can create or destroy, encourage or discourage, build up or tear down. The power of words is not measured by their volume or the intensity of their delivery but by their effectiveness in fulfilling their purpose. Powerful speech flows from an inspired heart, either for good or evil. An example from history illustrates the point. Sir Winston Churchill, the English war-time Prime Minister, inspired a nation to greatness by using his words to construct a picture of victory in the face of certain defeat. His famous address calling the nation never to surrender turned Britain's darkest hour into arguably its finest. His words created faith in a nation and inspired the whole world to believe that good could triumph over evil. Conversely, the dictator Adolph Hitler used his skilful, manipulative way with words to inspire a nation to evil. His words were so powerfully motivated by the appalling intent in his heart that he nearly succeeded in his grandiose scheme of world domination. His words created fear and inspired men to do inconceivable evil on a colossal scale. The Bible perfectly describes the subtle, devious power of words: 'The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords' (Psalm 55:21). Endless tapestries of both good and evil can be woven by our words. What we say reveals what is in our hearts. God had the image of the whole creation in his heart before the world ever was, and when he spoke this image into being, his words created exactly what he had within him, through the awesome power of the Holy Spirit. In Genesis we see time and time again how God spoke the creation into existence: 'Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light' (Genesis 1:3). We too create with our words. We bring the things we see in our hearts into being through our mouths, just as God did. If our words are godly words we will create the lifestyle God wants us to have: heaven here on earth. If our words are not godly they will create the lifestyle the devil wants us to have: hell here on earth. The choice is ours. Winners don't entertain thoughts or words of defeat. If we want to be winners in life we need to start to speak the way winners speak. The only way we can do that is to find out what God wants us to speak, and to concentrate on doing everything he wants us to do. This book has been written to show why the things we say are so powerful and why we need to change the way we speak. We all need to grow, but if we want change it will only come as we resolve to change our words.