Words are very powerful, aren’t they? The children’s adage is incorrect when it says sticks and stone may break my bones but names will never hurt me. We all know that a casual sarcastic remark or a critical remark can inflict a lasting injury but a well-timed compliment can inspire for a lifetime. How often do you think about the words you say to other people? The words you say to others are important and powerful and because of this we need to be mindful of them on a daily basis.
Ephesians 4:29 – Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Let us break down just the beginning of this verse. The word “unwholesome”, it means rotten, unfit for use, bad, and worthless. Then we have ”word” which here is talking about speech. So what this verse is saying is, do not let speech come from your mouth that is rotten, bad, unfit, or worthless. What should come from your mouth are things that build up and encourage others. Replace the worthless speech with worthwhile speech. Poorly chosen words can kill enthusiasm, impact self-esteem, lower expectations and hold people back. Well-chosen words can motivate, offer hope, create vision, impact thinking and alter results all for the positive.
Let me give you an illustration. If I spray out whipped cream on a plate, who can get it back in the can? You cannot get it back in – once it is out it is out. Whipped Cream is just like our words – once they are out, they are out. This is one reason why we must be so very careful about the word we use. We need to be careful to use our words in a positive way. Let me give a side note that will make sense over the various post and that whipped cream taste sweet and good when used the right way but can make real mess when it is not used like it is intended..
Now think about this: The Power of Positive Words – Words that build up others, lift up others, or move others higher than they were. Those are the words we need to find and use in life. Let us all be honest, we all love to be around people who build us up. Think now about someone who is uplifting every time they speak to you, I am sure that someone has come to your mind.Now think about this: do you come to other people’s minds when they think about people who speak positive words into their lives? Are you using the power of positive words? Are your words ones that lift people up higher than where they were?
People will as the old commercial says “judge you by the words you use”.This is not whether they are big or small words as the commercial leads you to believe but I believe people will judge you by the positive or negative words you use when you speak to them – if you gossip or if you encourage – your words make a difference.
I mentioned a moment ago that whipped cream is certainly sweet. Most people love to eat whipped cream on things because of the sweetness. That is what positive words are; they are sweet to the taste! People love them.
I am one who likes to people watch and people listen. It does not take long to sit somewhere and hear people talking and hear someone say unkind things about someone else. You turn on the Television and you hear people putting down others. Unfortunately you can go to church and hear other Christians being unkind to others. The Bible tells us that our words should not be unkind but kind.
Kind words – They are words that are generous, good, considerate and helpful.
Proverbs 16:24 – Kind words are like honey – sweet to the soul and healthy for the body. Kind word should be the words that come across your lips on a daily basis. Notice that they are sweet like whipped cream. Kind words are something that should define us as Christians. The words we use should be the most generous, the most considerate, and the most helpful to all people. Don’t you just feel better when someone says something that is kind to you? What is it that we say to someone who is having a terrible day; we say sweet things to them, why? Because sweet things said help us to feel better and we understand that from this verse in Proverbs we just read.
Then we also have other words to say to people which are: Encouraging Words – These are words that inspire others with courage, spirit, or hope. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 -Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing. Who are the encouragers in your life? Many of you who read this are great encouragers of me. When someone encourages me, it causes me to want to encourage others. That is what we need to be all need to be and that is encouragers!
We all need to be the ones encouraging. Some might say that this is just dreaming but what I know is this: encouragement is a command of scripture. The idea of building up other people is one that is weaved throughout the Bible. Paul throughout his writing sends people to encourage churches. To the Colossians he sends Tychicus to be an encourager. He sends Timothy to be the encourager in Thessalonica. He sends people to encourage and he tells us to encourage. It is important that we are men and women who are pushing people to be full of courage. I want you to take a second and think back to the one person in your life who encouraged you the most when you were young. It might be a mother, father, grandparent, aunt, uncle, friend, coach, or whomever. They were a positive difference maker in your life. Do you come to anyone’s mind as a great encourager? There are people in my life who have encouraged me and believed in me and I would not be where I am today without them. I want to be that type of person to others and I would hope and pray that you would want to be that type of person too. If you do – act and speak like it!
Who was your encourager when you were young? What did they encourage you to do?
