\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Proverbs 18:21 tells us that “…..The power of death and life is in the tongue.”\u00a0 And James\u00a0 tells us that “…..The tongue no man can tame.”\u00a0 Those are pretty strong words.\u00a0\u00a0 I think sometimes we don’t realize what power our words have.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It’s funny how we remember things that are said to us.\u00a0 I remember that my dad always said I was stupid, fat, and worthless.\u00a0 It made me feel just that way.\u00a0 I remember once my mother’s friend told me to “just shut up, because I had nothing worthwhile to say.”\u00a0 That felt like a slap in\u00a0 the face.\u00a0 I never was able to speak freely around her again; not even as an adult.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We need many, many words of encouragement to cancel one negative comment.\u00a0 That is sad, but true.\u00a0 It is far easier to believe the negative things.\u00a0 Often we need to look hard to find something nice to say about an individual or situation, but my mother always said, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”\u00a0 I agree with that.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Once the words leave our mouths, we can never take them back!\u00a0 We might apologize for what we said, but we cannot erase it from the memory.\u00a0 I heard it once compared to squeezing toothpaste from a tube.\u00a0 Once that toothpaste is out, it’s impossible to get it back into the tube.\u00a0 No matter how hard you try, it only makes a big mess and the toothpaste is still out of the tube.\u00a0 Once our words are out of our mouth, we cannot put them back either. \u00a0Try it sometime.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Let’s make a conscious effort to speak only words of encouragement and love to one another.\u00a0 Even when we must correct someone, we should speak words of correction filtered through an attitude of love.\u00a0 Our Lord has told us to speak the truth in love, and a soft answer turns away wrath.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Let us choose to be\u00a0instruments of life instead of death.\u00a0 The world will be a better place if we do.\u00a0 We will be happier people, if we do.\u00a0 God will be pleased with us, if we do.\u00a0 Those are good enough reasons for me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Proverbs 18:21 tells us that “…..The power of death and life is in the tongue.”\u00a0 And James\u00a0 tells us that “…..The tongue no man can tame.”\u00a0 Those are pretty strong words.\u00a0\u00a0 I think sometimes we don’t realize what power our words have. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It’s funny how we remember things that are said to us.\u00a0…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":420,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,14],"tags":[13,4,28],"class_list":["post-434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-encouragement","category-inspiration","tag-family-communications","tag-peacemaker","tag-truth"],"yoast_head":"\n