Sheltering Words

Remember, every time you open your mouth, your mind walks out and parades up and down the words.  ~Edwin Stuart






Recently one of my friends and her family had the occasion to hear (endure) an amateur singing group.  After a particularly way-off-pitch song, her son turned to her and said, "That makes my ears bleed."  I laughed... then my next thought was, My ears bleed when I hear unkind, unjust and unnecessary words being spoken.   

When I read that we have 800,000 words in the English language I wondered how many of them I actually use.  They claim 300,000 are technical and scientific words only a small percentage of people use.  Still, 500,000 is a lot of words. 


What breaks my heart is that by stringing fewer than ten of those words together we can wound, discourage or criticize others.  Someone once said, "The kindest word in all the world is the unkind word, unsaid."


I don't think everyone who wounds with their words are intentionally hurtful.  James reminds us, "It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that."  Have you ever heard, "I just say what I think... and you'll have to deal with it"?  I think God desires for us to watch our words. Ask yourself, Would these words hurt me if I were on the receiving end? 

In the gentlest way possible, I submit a question (The only way I feel I have a right to ask it of you is because I have asked it of myself in the past).  Are the words coming from your lips an indication of what is in your heart?  


Winston Churchill reminds us, "By swallowing evil words unsaid, no one has ever harmed his stomach."  It may be hard for you -- perhaps you'll need to break the habit of verbalizing every thought that pops into your mind, thus taking time to pause before opening mouth .  But this one thing I know, God has grace.  There is grace when you've been hurt and you'd like to hurt back.  There's grace -- abundant grace -- to keep the words kind, encouraging, genuine and generous -- or at times: silent!

Orbit's slogan seemed to fit the topic.

We know for sure is that there is joy in store for those who speak kind words. "Well spoken words bring satisfaction" (Proverbs 12:14).  I want to bless, encourage, to shelter with my words.  And I believe in you, dear readers; I believe your desire is the same.


In the last 24 hours, I have been blessed by a comment on my blog, a Facebook message, a phone text message and face-to-face comment from a special new friend.  These positive, encouraging words made me feel applauded.  They left joyprints all over my heart.  


We have a choice.  We can speak words of compassion, kindness, empathy and love.  We can applaud, rejoice and bless.  Our words can be life-giving.  Let's leave some joyprints this week -- whether spoken, written, or typed. Let's hang a prism of our words so those we bless will see "bits of dancing red and green, violet and orange, gold and blue...(everything) aflame with shimmering bits of color" (Pollyanna).

This post is linked to:

Spiritual Sundays

Welcome to the Weekend

Weekend Gathering