Sticks and Stones May Break my Bones but Words will Never Hurt Me

Last night I was watching a report on Dateline called "Second Chances". In this report they followed four teenagers who all had the same issue. One was a jock, another was a good musician, one used to be in beauty pageants, and the other one was full of life. Yet because of what teenagers said about how they looked they hated themselves. Because of someone's words they were insecure, did not want to talk to anyone, and thought no one cared about them.

We like to believe that what we say and what others say about us doesn't really matter but it does. Underneath it all words are really powerful. In the book of James he says the tongue can be like a spark in a forest that sets it on fire! Words can be used to build up or destroy. It can be so tempting to use harsh words or off the cuff comments thinking that people don't actually take it to heart. There is an old statement that maybe your mom has said before, "If you don't have something good to say, then don't say it at all." You can never take back what you say. It is hard to build back what you destroyed so be careful with what you say.

For those of you who have been hurt by words you cannot allow others to define who you are. You must give that power to the one who created you and knows you better than anyone else, God. God's word says you are a son or daughter of his, you are his creation, and you are here for a reason and purpose.

Eventually some of the students in the story got plastic surgery to feel better about themselves. Maybe today we don't need plastic surgery but we need God to change our heart towards other people and how we view ourselves. God's word says, "Treat others as you would like to be treat." Let us show Christ love to all we encounter. Also let us not allow others to tell us who we are and allow God to define it. As we talk about choices in the next few months in Thrive let us decide today to use our words wisely.