We have all heard this old playground saying as kids…we may have even teamed up with other people to say it together in cadence…come on, everyone now…
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me!
This couldn’t be further from the truth. The fact is that words do hurt…whether we like to admit it or not. I was never a small kid. Big surprise there. However, my size always seemed to be a target of the other kids. I would hear things like, “You are FAT!” My defense mechanism for these statements, besides the sticks and stones saying, was humor. I would quickly shoot back, “Yeah, but you are ugly and I can lose weight.” or the old great standby of “shut up or else!” I wasn’t a bully…in fact, I really only wanted to get along with everyone.
In his book An Enemy Called Average, John Mason penned the title of one of the installments “Words are Like Nitroglycerin…they can blow up bridges or heal hearts.” This is one of my favorite books! What a powerful statement that sums up the power of our words. What we say has impact! I use the word impact because they collide with someone else and their receptors and how those words are processed. Today, texting and email have all but eliminated the tone in our conversations. As much as we want to have relationships and are created to have relationship with other people, we just don’t want face time with those people. A lot of people say it is more convenient, however, I want to throw this out…it is because a lot of people have been hurt by words of those who were careless with their words.
Words are powerful…in fact, the Bible says in Proverbs 18:21,
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.
The Bible goes on to say in Proverbs 12:18,
There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
There it is…blowing up bridges or healing hearts!
A word of warning…what is in your heart comes out of your mouth. I have heard it said this way too, “The face of a child can say it all…especially the MOUTH part of the face.”
Just like Ralphie, in a Christmas Story, was held accountable for his words, so will we be held accountable for ours. Matthew 12:36 says,
I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,
Choose your words…let them be words of encouragement and healing…
If you are nitroglycerin, do your words blow up others or heal them?
Have you offended or hurt someone by your words? Go to them and make things right between you and that person.
Has someone offended you or hurt you with their words? Have they disrespected you in public? Maybe it is time to let that go and do as Christ has done for each of us…forgive.
I pray that each of you reading would take this to heart and really focus on what we say…because it gives real insight to the things in our heart that may need to be dug out and cast off or shown to be a source of inspiring greatness in others. May God grow you!
oneguyseyes 