Humble Beginnings

The power of words

A pastor once conveyed this story about words.  I thought I would share.

A couple was having marital problems and the husband went to his pastor seeking help.  The previous night the husband and wife had gotten into a terrible argument and nasty comments were made.  The husband didn't know how to make things better with his wife after the words that were spoken.  The pastor told him to take a feather pillow and go down to the corner.  He was to cut open the pillow and scatter the feathers.  The husband thought this was weird, but did it anyway.  After watching the feathers fly away, he went back to the pastor and asked, "Now what do I do?"  The pastor told him to go back to the corner and pick up all the feathers.  The husband looked at the pastor like he was nuts and told him there was no way that he could get back all the feathers.  The pastor looked at him and said, "So are your words from last night.  Once the words are out of your mouth, you can never take them back.  They will always be floating out there somewhere."

The truth of it is, words carry weight with them.  They are easily spoken but they carry a much heavier impact than we give them credit.

Proverbs 10:19:  "When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise."

Proverbs 21:23:  "He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity."

Psalm 34:13:  "keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies."

I have wonderful children who are honest, trustworthy, friendly, loving and very well-meaning.  They want to harm no one and want to be friends with everyone.  But sometimes, no matter how hard they try to be friends with others, they are turned away, called names and laughed at.  I'm speaking about James now.  You would think that children in a children's choir at church would be nicer to each other than that.  It hurts his feelings when they ignore him and call him names.  He doesn't understand why.  I don't either for that matter.

I know children are children but we try so hard to teach our children to respect others, not to call others names, not to make fun of others, etc.  I guess I'm so naive that I think other parents do the same, but again ... children are children (and children aren't always nice).  James is a wonderful little boy...very smart, very friendly.  He wants friends.  He wants to play with others and fit in, but I think these children in the choir have known each other for many years and have been part of this church their entire lives.  Maybe it's because he's the "new kid"...I don't know.  It's just laying on my heart right now.