Words can paint a picture in the reader's mind, they can bring tears to the eyes or a smile to the face. Put them together the right way and they can tell a story or give instruction. Even if no one said anything to you, if you picked up the Bible and just read the words, you'd find the path to the cross - it's right there tucked in the pages from beginning to end, a magnificent tapestry of words that hold such hope. It's hard to think that these rather small individual pieces of letters when put together in a variety of combinations could hold that much power.
And yet, they do.
I've used my own words for good, carelessly let them fall out of my mouth in a moment of rash emotion, and I've thrown them out like arrows intent on wounding. The fact that I have a way with words almost makes me more dangerous, because while I've greater skill at using them to encourage and uplift, I'm also a rather handy swordsman.
"There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing." Proverbs 12:18
Add to that the lightening quick speed within which we send emails, a text or a Facebook message and we have a recipe for disaster - words quickly typed, most often unedited and unleashed in such a way as they can't be taken back. Even if you apologize, you can't make the recipient erase from their mind and heart what you've written, and unless you seek out their email inbox or cell phone and hit the delete button, they've got a hard copy of what you said.
Did you really mean it?
I once read the following thought:
"Imagine a world where the words you speak appear on your skin. Would you be more careful with what you say?"
That makes me stop and think, look back at things I've said or typed in my moments of anger and frustration. I confess I would have a few inches of skin that I'd squirm in discomfort until they were covered up from other's eyes.
Recently I had a few words that were put into writing about me. It wasn't the nastiest thing anyone could have said, but it did hit me in one of the places where I try and serve God. They came without warning on a weekday afternoon and I've carried them in my mind for a few weeks now, thinking back on what was said and who said them.
It's been a mixture of feelings - I've prayed for the writer because it's obvious they are upset and that kind of emotional turmoil can lead to seeds of bitterness that take root and that's such a miserable place to be. I've tried to think back as to when someone has approached me to try and share how they were upset with the way I was serving and couldn't find anything. I've questioned that maybe there was some truth to what they've said and that's left me feeling small and hurt and wanting to find a quiet corner to sit in all by myself. And when given the chance to serve in that very ministry, I just wanted to bow out, feeling the weight of those criticizing words looming over me.
Do you think the writer realized that was the impact they would have when they wrote that letter? Was that what they intended? I'd like to think that some part of them was truly concerned and seeking change for the better, but I can't see where that has happened. My bruised heart doesn't feel restored or encouraged or directed in a way that's better, it just feels attacked. How is there any good in that?
So instead, I've been a little quiet with my words. If anything positive has come of what was said, then may it be that I think twice about anything I choose to write or say. May I remember what I've felt these past few weeks, and choose to not be the deliverer of such a blow to those around me.
"Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear." Ephesians 4:29
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