Proverbs 18:21 “Death and life
are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.”
(KJV)
Words have lifelong influence on
children. I’m seventy-two years of age and still have my parents’ voice,
especially my mother’s, in my head.
“Wherever you go, you carry our
family name with you.”
“Always hand someone a pair of
scissors handle first.”
“Make sure your bed is made
before you get on the bus.”
Some words were more important
than others, but they all carried weight in my life, even things my parents
didn’t remember telling me.
Making my bed wasn’t a hard
thing to do, but I wasn’t especially careful about it. The lumps and bumps in
the covers resembled a topographical map.
Finally, my mother took me to
the bedroom and said, “If a ladybug walked across your bed, it would get
seasick.”
I was horrified. After that
conversation, I made my bed with much more care. I didn’t want any ladybugs to
throw up on my bed.
Words change people.
When I became a teacher, I
experienced this issue in my students’ lives. More than one student come
into my room believing they were stupid. Either a parent or another teacher had
called them dumb – and they believed it to be true.
It takes a long time, months, to
help them understand that they are useful and valuable and smart.
One word can tear them down. It
takes many words and time to build them back up again.
Are you sending out life or
death with your words?
