Remember the phrase "sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me?" Sounds nice, but the truth is words do hurt. I'm sure that many of us can think back to childhood memories of being teased and taunted and how the negativity of the words used left us with feelings of inadequacies. The reality is that words are powerful. They can either be used to empower or serve as the source of a break-down in one's self-esteem. This week as we continue to focus on the meaning of love, we must be mindful of the words we use when communicating with others. James 1:19 encourages us to be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger. Sometimes the best decision we can make when communicating is practicing our right to remain silent. Silence can result in enhanced listening, time to reflect on the dialogue taking place, and gives us power over our emotionally-driven responses. This week before releasing words into the atmosphere that cannot be taken back, take a moment to reflect, and rethink before responding.
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Yes, Amen! I'm striving to allow my words to be seasoned with grace so that all those that I talk to will feel better and not WORSE!
ReplyDeleteThanks for those thoughtful words! There is something that struck me in your post about silence and it's ability to give us power over our emotions. That's powerful in itself. Sometimes we let situations get the best of us, but taking the time to listen and reflect on the dialogue helps to put things into perspective. Thanks for this wonderful blog post and I can't wait for the next post.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you Tangie! The last thing I want to do is cause anyone to feel worse. Sometimes if we don't take the time to reflect before we release our words this is exactly what happens.
ReplyDeleteThanks Meaka! I love your perspective of how taking the time to listen and reflect before responding enables us to gain clarity as we communicate. When we allow our emotions to speak for us they can cause major damage to our relationships, and leave us wishing we had taken just a few moments to listen and reflect before responding. Takes practice, but is so worthwhile!
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