Are you a Life-Giver or a Life-Buster?
“A person’s words can be life-giving water; words of true wisdom are as refreshing as a bubbling brook.” Proverbs 18:4 (NLT)
Have you ever said something and the moment the words came out of your mouth you wish you had a rewind button and could erase or take back what you just said? I f I had a dollar for every word spoken out of my mouth that was NOT life-giving I would be rich! I am ashamed to admit it… but I think we all have said some awful things from time to time.
A friend of mine came to me quite distraught because her sister had said some horrible things to her regarding the death of her daughter. She came as far as to blame her for her daughter’s death! Instead of consoling her dear sister, she berated her with such words that none of us should even repeat. These words were so cutting, so hateful and false that my dear friend lost a night’s sleep.
Why is it that most of the time it is the ones we love the most that we also hurt the most with our own words! The old saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me” is a LIE!! Name calling and nasty words DO hurt!
Every day when we wake up we should pray as the psalmist wrote, “May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Psalms 19:14 (NIV)
It is always refreshing to be around someone who is joyful – full of life! So let us daily lift up a prayer to our Lord that the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in His sight; so in turn our words can be as refreshing as life-giving water.
Yes, unfortunately I have said things that I wish I wouldn’t had. I pray the prayer of Psalms every morning before leaving for work. I hope that my words are life-giving. Thank you for the reminder to be watchful what comes out of our mouths.