Speak Life| Words Matter
Sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me! We’ve all heard that silly kids rhyme before and we all know it isn’t true. Words matter, they have the power to speak life into us or to tear us down. Both the words others speak to us and the words we say to ourselves. Proverbs 18:21 says “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” Yikes!
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I have this quote written inside of my medicine cabinet as a reminder to watch what I say.
“Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.” Psalm 141:3
As a wife, mom, sister, daughter, friend I want my words to speak life to the people around me. I’m not always successful at this. I complain too much, vent too often, criticize when I should hold my tongue.
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Our words matter so before we speak we should ask ourselves three questions.
Are my words kind?
Is what we have to say kind? Are we just using our words to hurt someone or is what we are about to say going to build them up? I tell my kids all the time that their siblings spiteful words are not justification to say something mean back to them. Are we choosing to speak life into others?
What if we need to address a problem? Well then our next question comes into play.
Check out these cute stories about kindness:
Are my words true?
Is what you are about to say true? Is it both true and kind? If we cannot address a serious problem with both truth and kindness we should probably hold our tongues until we can.
As parents we have to discipline and train our children. We have to bring up negative behavior to try to change it. The challenge is finding a way to do this with both truth and kindness.
*side note: just because someone doesn’t like what we have to say doesn’t mean it is unloving or unkind. However this brings me to the next question.
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Are my words necessary?
Oh boy, I don’t always like this one. As a verbal processor I have a lot of words in me!
It is not always our job to address issues with people. This especially holds true for our children who like to act like they are the parent to their siblings. Even if our words can be kind and true it may not be necessary for us to speak.
We all know someone who feels like it is their moral obligation to set everyone straight. We are all annoyed by people who act this way. Don’t be that person, resist!
Everyday we have to make a choice. Will my words speak life or will they speak death to the people around me? We must teach our children the power of words. Sometimes I think the wounds left by words hurt deeper and longer than physical wounds. How will you speak life to someone today?
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