Words......

At church, we have been having a message series on words for the past few weeks.  Their ability to build up or tear down.  Their ability to speak truth or lies.  Their ability to hurt or to heal.

We all have experience with the power of words.  My mother related a story from her childhood about how the careless use of words can leave scars that never go away.  I teach this to my children and I ask them to be honest with me if my words hurt them.  I was bullied with words for the better part of my childhood so I am grateful to have had parents who used their words to build me up.  I have used words to make someone else feel as bad as I did, and I carried that guilt around for years, until I chose to apologize.
 
The words we choose not to say can be just as powerful as the ones we do speak.  When we choose not to say something hurtful, we choose not to plant weeds in our hearts or the hearts of others.  But wouldn't it be better to say something kind rather than nothing at all?  Tell people you are proud of them, or that you love them.  Tell someone how much you appreciate them in your life.  You might think they know, but hearing it could be the one thing that gets them through the day with a smile instead of anger. 

Words of condolence can be very difficult.  We all want to dispense words of wisdom that will help the bereaved through his time of grief, but we don't want to sound cliché.  The perfect words that will offer comfort but not come off sounding like we know what he is going through.  Profound words.  Meaningful words. When we can't find the perfect words, we often say nothing.  All we need to say is "I love you."
Kind and loving words are meant to be shared.  Left unspoken, they can be the bitterest words of all.