This is an article I wrote for a poetry e-zine I help with.   

Words

 

“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.” – Proverbs 25:11

“Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” 

         - Proverbs 12:18

“For out of the heart the mouth speaks.”  - Matthew 12:34b

 An anxious heart weights a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.”-Proverbs 12:25

“Words are also actions, and actions are a kind of words.”  - Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.”

                           -  Mother Teresa

 

       It’s usually pretty easy to speak words to another person.  Just open your mouth, and there they are!  Do you remember the old saying?  “Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me.”  Children sometimes would reply with this saying when they were being picked on or teased.  But have you realized how untrue the words are?  The words we speak do matter!  The words we say, no matter how much or how little we mean them, do matter.  And all words, good or bad, can have a dramatic impact on our lives. 

       When we speak recklessly, our words pierce like a sword.  Think of that!  How does a sword pierce?  Swiftly and painfully, leaving devastating scars.  When we speak words unkindly to any person, whether man, woman, teenager or child, we can rip the hope right out of their heart and leave them in heaps of anguish and misery.  Many hearts and souls have been battered and spirits wounded by words hurled in anger, bitterness or spoken in a demeaning manner.

       On the contrary, when we speak a kind word to another it cheers them (and us) up!  Caring, encouraging words bring healing and ‘soothing water’ to the dry, parched or thirsting heart. 
       We must choose our words wisely, “for out of the heart the mouth speaks,” (Matthew 12:34b).  The way we use our words, whether to build another up or tear him down, is one of the most revealing parts of ourselves.  We can’t ever take back the words we say- they forever leave ‘footprints’ on the hearts of the ones around us. 

       For by our words we will be justified, and by our words we will be condemned (Matthew 12:37).  Every idle word we speak we will have to give account for in the Day of Judgment.  (Matthew 12:36).  Think of that!  Every joke, every muttering under our breath, every word we speak we will have to answer for!  That’s a sobering thought for me.  Is it for you? 

       I encourage you (as I do myself) to choose your words with care – to lace your words with understanding, patience and wisdom, so that we let the word of Christ dwell in us as we fellowship and teach one another. 

 

 

Our Words Leave Footprints

 

As I walk in the fresh and new fallen snow
I leave my footprints wherever I go.

I laugh with joy when I see the footprints I make
Crisp and clear...and yet so easy to break.  

This reminds me of another thing too.
Something important, for me and for you.

Footprints, like words, are easy to make.
Words, like footprints, easy to break.

We can ever take back the words that we say-
Same as the footprints we leave on our way.

So take care as you travel though life
Leave footprints free of anger, malice and strife.

Because just as we walk through the new fallen snow,
Our words leave footprints wherever we go.

 

 

© 2003 Terra Mandrell
Please do not use without permission!

 

 

 

 

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