{"id":170,"date":"2019-06-06T01:49:28","date_gmt":"2019-06-06T01:49:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/?p=170"},"modified":"2019-06-06T01:49:28","modified_gmt":"2019-06-06T01:49:28","slug":"casual-comments-can-have-a-big-impact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/2019\/06\/casual-comments-can-have-a-big-impact.html","title":{"rendered":"Casual Comments Can Have a BIG Impact"},"content":{"rendered":"

I recall a wonderful sermon I heard some years ago, by Vic Pentz, a Presbyterian pastor who led a small congregation in Southern California. Vic was a handsome guy, with the sturdy physique of an athlete. The way he tugged and pushed at his collar and shoulder indicated that football may have been one of his sports. But today the sports tale he told was of wrestling.<\/p>\n

When Vic was a teenager, he was overweight, not very tall, and felt terrible about his body. (I must admit, I was comforted, and even a little happy, to hear that women aren\u2019t the only ones who have body image problems!) He suffered from low self-esteem, which affected his studies, his dating life (or lack of), and his overall level of fulfillment in life. He was not a happy camper.<\/p>\n

One day, Vic was in the locker room changing his clothes after wrestling practice and a shower. Around the corner, hidden by a row of lockers, two of the wrestling coaches were talking. Vic couldn\u2019t help but overhear what they were saying.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe guys did good in practice today,\u201d the first coach said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, especially Vic,\u201d the second coach replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat Vic Pentz, he\u2019s as strong as an ox!\u201d the first coach said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, he sure is,\u201d the second one replied. Then they continued their conversation about practice and upcoming wrestling matches.<\/p>\n

In retelling this story to his congregation many years after the incident, Vic explained how that coach\u2019s words changed his life. In an instant, his low self-regard was skyrocketed to unimagined heights, because of someone else\u2019s faith in him. \u201cThat Vic Pentz, he\u2019s as strong as an ox\u201d became his new mantra. He shrugged off his self-doubts and set about making those words even truer than before. He worked out with weights; he lost weight almost effortlessly; and his self-esteem was transformed. He went on to become a wrestling champion, while maintaining superb academic grades. He took good care of his body, took care of his studies, and graduated with honors. He went on to college, then to divinity school, married, started a family, and became a minister.<\/p>\n

Those two coaches never knew that Vic was in the locker room, listening to what they were saying. But their words \u2013 just ordinary words \u2013 had a huge impact on an insecure teenage boy. Their words became Vic\u2019s prayer \u2013\u00a0they changed his life.<\/p>\n

Chances are, your words, too, have become some else\u2019s prayer \u2013 and you may not even know it. Words are powerful \u2013 use them wisely.<\/p>\n

\"BJ's<\/a>
BJ’s new book is “Your Life is Your Prayer” (Mango Publishing)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I recall a wonderful sermon I heard some years ago, by Vic Pentz, a Presbyterian pastor who led a small congregation in Southern California. Vic was a handsome guy, with the sturdy physique of an athlete. The way he tugged and pushed at his collar and shoulder indicated that football may have been one of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":434,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[116,176,177,167,63,126],"class_list":["post-170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-power-of-words","tag-self-esteem","tag-self-image","tag-self-judgment","tag-self-talk","tag-your-life-is-your-prayer"],"yoast_head":"\nCasual Comments Can Have a BIG Impact - The Power of Positive Doing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Chances are, your words have become some else\u2019s prayer \u2013 and you may not even know it. 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She is quoted almost weekly in various newspapers, women\u2019s magazines, and websites including O the Oprah magazine, Redbook, Woman\u2019s World, Ladies Home Journal, First for Women, Time, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Hartford Courant, Denver Post, Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor, Orlando Sentinel, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and MSNBC.com, among others. BJ also conducts seminars and workshops. Her clients include: IBM, Chevron, Nissan, John Deere Credit Canada, Volkswagen, Farm Credit Services of America, Raytheon, Marathon Realty (Canada), U.S. Department of Interior, Veterans Administration, among others. 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