Sacred Spaces 378– They hang on your words
7 May 2013
This picture is rather humorous.
Yet it packs a punch of truth too.
You and I both can admit we have felt the sting of words.
Words hurt.
They lied when they came up with an attempted quick fix plaster of a rhyme:
(Who are ‘they’ anyway?J)
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but silly words won’t harm me.”
Are you kidding?
In many cases people have had to admit: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, and those darn words nearly killed me.”
Sounds extreme?! And sadly in some cases they have been.
We carry words as weapons sometimes.
I can look back and remember hurtful things that were said to me by teachers, friends and family.
It’s been years since those incidents/confrontations… but the effects of those words remain.
Now I am not asking you to feel sorry for me. Not at all! Because I also know over the years that a very real and powerful Jesus has set me free from those “chains” which careless spoken words had me bound in.
James 3 speaks of taming our tongue.
The most convicting verse in that passage challenges us “with the same mouth that we praise our Lord God, we also curse men that have been created in the image of our Creator.”
So sad, how we declare our love for God in these “cute holy gatherings” on Sundays and then our tongue like a cannon in our office spaces, classrooms and homes shooting off hurtful words.
People hang on our words; will you be the one who constructs the gallows? Hope not…
FITTING LYRICS:
“But I’ve never broken bones
With a stone or a stick
But I’ve conjured up a phrase
That can cut to the quick
And sometimes I say things that
I wish that I could take back
And the smartest thing to say
Is to tell myself to keep
Quiet, quiet
Don’t let it all come undone
‘Cause if I dare open my mouth
It’ll just be to bite my tongue”
find song here:
TWITTURGY
Sparks are not always just sparks
Sometimes they are fuel for forest fires
Same with my words
Jesus, help me not speak careless words
Tame my tongue
Put out the forest fires
That we create.
