* What Did You Say?

Watch your words and hold your tongue; you’ll save yourself a lot of grief.
Proverbs 21:23-24 The Message

How many times have you thought, "I wish I didn't say that..."? For me, it's too many times. And we can't un-say what's been said. We can't make them un-hear it, and the heart that was pierced because of something we said can certainly be healed, but it will be scarred.

The keynote speaker at a recent safety meeting emphasized the power of words. He'd gone on to a project as the safety rep and asked the project team how many safety incidents they thought they would have during the project. Their reply was - given the circumstances and conditions, they thought they would have quite a few. It was a self-fulfilling prophecy. They did, indeed.

Then he chose tall men to volunteer for his next visual. He asked them to hold their arm straight out to the side at their shoulder height, and he told them he was going to press on it to try to make it go down and they were to resist. So he did a quick check, and sure enough, they all resisted. Then he instructed them to tell themselves three times, "I'm doing a lousy job," after which, he tested them again, and the arm came down somewhat. Then he put four people in front of them and instructed them each to say, "You are doing a lousy job!" When they finished saying that, the instructor pressed down on each of their arms, and they all failed, unable to resist.

By the same token, he then had the four say enthusiastically to the volunteers, "You are doing such a great job!" and each was able to fully resist the pressure on their arms. It was an eye-opening experience.

James 3:5a from The Message reads, A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it! What are our words doing?

Prayer:

Father,
           To quote the plaque on my wall, "Please keep Your arm around my shoulder and Your hand over my mouth." Let my words be used to edify, encourage and to lift up. I don't want my mouth to be a weapon of mass-destruction in league with the enemy of our souls. Give me the strength, the courage and the wisdom to guard my mouth. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen