Our words are powerful

Today Jackie and I were walking back to our car after picking up a few things at the store. However, as we opened the doors to our car and were placing things in the backseat, I heard a man say to his wife, "Well, if you go around that way you're just stupid."

Apparently they had ventured down the wrong lane only to find that their car was one section over and had to navigate a curb and some landscaping to get there. OK, that might be a little frustrating and perhaps his wife did take the long way (ironically, she was pushing the cart and he was just carrying one small item).

But did that require calling her "stupid?" I don't think anything does. My hunch is that his name-calling wasn't the first or the last time - sadly. We have to remember that our words are powerful. Proverbs 18:21 says that "death and life are in the power of the tongue." "Words of death" are the kind the man in the parking lot used, words that attack the others character or personhood, that label them rather than merely address what they do.

Even if you would argue that you could never say something like that to your spouse, ask yourself what your vocabulary likely sounds like most of the time, knowing that none of us are perfect. Would your words largely be: encouraging, critical, contemptuous or simply non-existent? So much about communication is as much about HOW we say things as it is WHAT we say.

Become more of an encourager of your spouse and others and speak some "words of life" today.