words

'What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say' - Ralph Waldo Emerson

The saying 'sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me' has never made any sense to me. For while sticks and stones can at times leave physical scars and a faint memory, words leave emotional scars and have a tendency to bear their ugliness in present and future relationships. How we cling to the negative comments that come our way. And how the devil likes to bring these back in our lives - at times subtly and at times unabashedly. We all know the effect careless words said by another have, so what do we do? Guard our own tongues to assure this hurt does not affect another? No. We are even more careless with our own words and we care more about pointing out another's perceived inadequacy, mistake, or careless actions. We detest anything that causes us discomfort and want others to know about it. To what end? Absolutely nothing of merit, that is for certain. To what expense? Too much to measure.

Dear Lord, guard my tongue, help me build others up and not contribute to the permanent scarring of hearts.

'Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. A prudent man keeps his knowledge to himself, but the heart of fools blurts out folly.' - Proverbs 12:18,23