We all know the childhood sang...
Sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me.
I think that is a bunch of lies. After a talk that Michael, I took some time this morning to look up the sang and see what others had to say about it. After doing a little research I found this website. I was glad to see that I am not the only one that thinks that this sang should be rubbed out of the minds of everyone. Words have power to tear a person down. I liked what one person said, that broken bones heal in about six weeks but a broken heart from harsh words can last a lifetime. Oh how true. We can all think of times that someone said something that really broke your spirit and on the flip side we can all think of times that someone said something nice that made you feel like you could soar.
Reading through all these entries I was also encouraged to see that it was not just females that feel that words can hurt, there were many males writing in saying that they would rather have a broken bone than another human being tear them down with words.
One of the individuals took it another step further and quoted Proverbs 12:18 which was another angle that I was going to begin searching - scriptures. Words have the ability to make a grown man weep. The scriptures are littered with verses describing the tongue as a sword, and what are swords used for... battle.
I equally took a look at the individuals that wrote that words are powerless without the emotions of the receiver of them. To that I agree! I know that words are useless without the context that they are presented in. If some one was to simply say, "Stop" that word in it self is something that we see on the roads driving, it is not a powerful word - however when we do not obey that word we will suffer the consequences, a ticket or worse yet someone can be killed.
The childhood song that I sang in Sunday school comes to mind... "Be careful little eyes what you see, be careful little ears what you hear, be careful little mouth what you say..."
I think if we took the time to process what our mouth says that we might find ourselves saying less and listening more. I know that I need to do this, as I have been letting my frustrations get the better of me and I start spatting off mean things as a way of battling, and making my point hurt. I was reading a book last night and there was something that was said that made me really think about the way that I have been communicating lately. The author stated, "You can be right but wrong at the top of your voice." So now I am going to try to work on not only my words that I spew out but the tone in which they come. Maybe I can kill those around me with kindness and yet still have my concerns heard.
