Words.

My latest favorite album is Hawk Nelson's More and my absolute favorite song on the album is this song below.  Take a minute to listen to each word in this song…    
(on some devices this isn't showing up so here is the linkhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaW-bG6y_5A )

Growing up I was the oldest of three girls and it got loud often in our home.  Whenever we would fight or talk down to each other my mom would ask us if we were choosing to speak words of life to each other or words of death?  It is a phrase that has stuck with me my whole life and a question I now ask my three girls.

Our words can build people up or tear people down.  Especially our children.  We can empower them to soar with our words or bring discouragement and self-loathing with our words.  Pleasant words are like honey, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.  My mom would go around the house stating that Proverb.  It became engrained in who we were.  We learned by watching her speak pleasant words to my sisters and I and those around us in our extended family, our friends and neighbors.  In conflict, we saw her choose pleasant words.  In pain, we saw her choose pleasant words.  In everyday conversation with us girls and everyone else, we saw her choose pleasant words.  She was showing us girls how to choose to speak pleasant words in everyday life.  

We were fortunate to have parents who chose to speak words of life consistently into our lives.  Were they perfect? Absolutely not.  Did they have parents who chose to speak words of life into them? Absolutely not. Did they make a choice to change the course of their lives and, by proxy, ours by fighting against the words spoken over them as kids?  Yes. And, yes it is possible for you to overcome those negative words spoken over you and change the course of your children's life and how they view themselves and teach them how to speak to other people.

It is a choice. Always. In everything we do we have a choice to speak words of life to those around us. Our kids. Our spouses. Our friends. Our extended family. Our neighbors and co workers.  We can choose to speak words of life which can encourage others to soar and be all that they were created to be. Or we can stifle others by speaking words of death into their lives by tearing them down and telling them they will never amount to anything good.  Which do you want to hear?  Which will you choose to speak? 

You don't have to listen to those words spoken over you that play on loop in your mind that you are no good, or that you won't amount to anything good, or that you don't have talent, or whatever lies were spoken to you.  You are loved and created in the image of God and He has good things for you and you are beautiful in His eyes.  He knows who He created you to be and the lies spoken to you are not what He has planned for you.

Choose today to not listen to those lies. Choose to make a change and speak the words of life you want to hear and speak those words of life into somebody else's life.

I think these few verses in the book of James sums it up perfectly.

"A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it!

It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.  

This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can’t tame a tongue—it’s never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth! My friends, this can’t go on."  James 3:3-12

And like this song says "I don't want to say a word unless it points back to You".  People around you are listening to what you say and how you say it.  If you are professing to be a Christian, hold your tongue and use your words to bring life not tear down. You have an audience whether you want to or not….people are paying attention to how you respond and what you are saying.

You can choose today to control your tongue and speak words of life and not words of death by starting right in your home, with your spouse and kids and the return will be great.  You can empower another life by choosing pleasant words. Why not start now?