the power of your words…

if you’re going to have less stress, you going to have to check your schedules. and also you are going to have to check your words.

proverbs 16.24 (nlt) tells us the power that words have to bring health to your lives. kind words are like honey, sweet to the soul and health to the body. physical health. whether i'm speaking these kind words or hearing these kind words, they have an impact on my life.

the opposite is also true. all of us have experienced the stress that comes into our lives because of words. for example: it’s a quiet evening at home – no stress, real calm – and all of a sudden someone says something that has a little bit of an edge to it and somebody else responds with a little more of an edge. it gets worse and worse. you’re on the down escalator of communication. when you’re on that, what was a quiet peaceful evening all of a sudden becomes this huge anxiety in your life. words can create incredible stress.

one of the most famous proverbs of all, proverbs 15.1 (niv) tells us why this happens, a gentle answer turns away wrath. but a harsh word stirs up anger. that’s why it happens.

what do we usually do when somebody’s harsh with us? the first response is for me to grab the spoon and stir it a little bit more. then somebody else grabs it and stirs it a little bit more. pretty soon we’re both stirring as fast as we can. it’s a terrible experience.

yet, the bible says here’s an answer. a gentle answer stops the stirring. it turns away wrath. the word “gentle” there doesn’t mean quiet and meek and you can hardly hear the person. the word “gentle” means able to be honest enough about yourself to admit where you’re at fault. it means, i’ve got enough humility to be able to say that.

just a thought from the front porch…

the power of negative words...

we are looking now at what we say in our communication.

and do we realize, do we have any conception of this power that we have to build into other people’s lives with a few words? to build encouragement into somebody’s life with the simple encouragement, “good job!” or to build a sense of healing into somebody’s life with the simple words, “i’m sorry? will you forgive me?” or to build hope for the future or energy for today with the words, “i love you.”

you know about this. it’s happened in your life. think of the times that your life has been changed by just a few words at just the right time, just the right moment. it may have been a coach giving you encouragement. it may have been a grandma giving you advice. it may have been your husband/wife sharing words of love with you. it may have been a teacher sharing some truths. those words said at the right time, you can look back and say, “my life changed because of those words in that moment.”

dr. larry crabb, a CHRISTian counselor, and author and speaker tells of a middle aged man who had been struggling for years with chronic depression and he came to dr. crabb and in the course of counseling, the man related that his father, the self-made head of a large corporation, had repeatedly told him, "son, when you inherit the family business, i expect that you will ruin it."

those words stung more painful each time he heard them. when his father died, the man felt driven to work unreasonably long hours to prove his father's prediction wrong but the pressure to avoid failure relentlessly gnawed at him and was quieted only by alcohol. soon a serious drinking problem developed, his wife threatened to leave him and finally he succumbed to ongoing depression for which he could find relief only in drugs. his life was devastated by the power of his father's tongue.

some of you have felt that pain. some of you know what I’m talking about. the power of negative words on a life. the power of our words

just a thought from the front…