Reckless Words

Uncle Jeremiah's wedding(unrelated to blog topic)

     A few weeks ago, Micah’s memory verse for school was the verse Proverbs 12:18
”The words of the reckless pierce like swords”   When he received this verse as his memory, my thoughts were “How fitting” children spend a lot of time throughout their early years of life learning how their interactions affect the people around them.  They learn how to “Use nice words” and how to say “Please” and “Thank you.”  All of these exercises are opportunities for children to begin to learn how to think through their words and the affect that their words can have on their peers and family members.  These lessons help children to learn to take a minute to think before shooting out words that cannot be taken back.  It is amazing how a word said thoughtlessly can stick with a person for years and years.  In many cases things that were said to us years ago can even begin to make up who we believe we are and where we feel our value comes from.  When in all actuality this is not and should not be where our value and self worth is found.    As this verse has been brought to the forefront of my mind, I have become more and more aware of the many times each day that I listen as hurtful words are slung at someone.  The scary thing is that due to social networking sites like facebook, twitter and the use of bogging, people can very easily attack someone without ever having to face them.  I watch as statuses are posted and tweets are tweeted and blogs are updated and I often find myself wondering, “Was someone hurt by that post? ” Ephesians 4:29 reminds us
 ”Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”   Jason always reminds the youth (and adults) at Redeemer that it is so important to treat everyone as if he or she is worth the death of the Son of God.  Because they are and that is where our value is found!  I pray that in all our interactions, we would treat people this way.

Uncle Jeremiah's Wedding(Unrelated to blog topic)

     Children learn by example far better than they learn through lecture.  They watch every interaction we make, and they hear every time we say something that is hurtful to another, they also hear every time that we compliment others.  Most times children try to emulate our behavior.  I pray that I can through my words and actions encourage my children to think before speaking.  I feel that in many cases, if we would step back and ask ourselves “Who do these words benefit? Are they helping someone grow closer with Christ or will they only serve to anger another? “  If we took a few minutes to think through our words, I would pray that many time we would choose to delete the hurtful message instead of posting it or that we would bite our tongues instead of lashing out at someone.  Colossians 4:46 is a fantastic guideline “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”  As I was finishing this blog post, I returned to Proverbs 12:18 to read the second half of the verse and this is what I found , “but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
” Proverbs 12:18 in its entirety is  “
”The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.”  May our words always be words of healing and never swords to one another!