Recently I was reminded of the truth contained in TobyMac’s song entitled, Speak Life. Check it out below, then click back here and I’ll share an experience I had in the produce department at the grocery that reminded me of the power of our words.
A few years ago, I was in our local Ingles doing my grocery shopping. I walked into the produce section and overheard a very rude woman giving Ernie, the man who was working in the produce department, all manner of grief because our Ingles did not have cored whole pineapples! She didn’t just express her displeasure and move on. NO!!! She went on and on at poor Ernie. I just stood there and stared at her. It was all I could do not to march up to her and smack her for her ridiculous rudeness. Praise God, I managed not to.
Ernie works very hard to keep the produce section looking nice and well stocked. He takes pride in his work, and it shows. I could tell that it took every ounce of restraint to remain calm and apologize to her that he did not have the item she needed, yet he handled it admirably.
After she moved on, I walked over to Ernie and said, “You do a great job here, and I appreciate you. Don’t let someone like that get to you!” He thanked me, and I finished my shopping. When I got to the checkout counter I overheard the lady working there talking to Ernie about how she, too, had been the target of this lady’s ire. I found the manager of the store and bragged on Ernie’s handling of the situation. It will come as no shock to anyone that that he, too, had been hit by Miss Cored Pineapple’s wrath. She just left a path of ‘pineapple’ destruction behind her!
Ernie walked back up to me before I left, and thanked me for encouraging him. He said that he was really feeling down and very angry until I took the time to encourage him.
I felt like finding Miss Pineapple and speaking Psalm 58:6 over her. I’ll let you find out what that says, but I figured if King David could ask for that, then so could I. I decided, instead, to just pray for her. Obviously she hasn’t experienced much in the way of grace or mercy lately.
Our words have power, friends, power that can build up or destroy. As we walk through this life we must learn to choose our words wisely, and SPEAK LIFE into the hearts and lives of others. We must make wise decisions regarding which hill to die on. I’m pretty sure the ‘cored pineapple hill’ is not the one to die on!! I believe that we will be held accountable for every word we utter in this life. I want my words to be ones that are pleasing to Jesus!!
So, how do we SPEAK LIFE into other people’s hearts? Here are four things to consider:
Stay in the Scriptures.
If I am filling my mind each day with the things of Christ, then those are the things that should emerge from my tongue.
Count to 10…or 100… or walk away before speaking/texting/emailing in anger.
It is so easy to spout off hurtful words in the heat of the moment. When something doesn’t go our way, we need to stop and count, or better yet, walk away. When we give ourselves a moment to calm down, we can choose more fitting words than those that might be spoken in the heat of anger.
Words cannot be unsaid, so choose them wisely.
Putting ourselves in the place of the other person for a few moments might help us consider what we would want to be said to us if we were on the receiving end of another person’s anger.
Be willing to apologize if words are spoken that are later regretted.
“I messed up. I’m sorry. Please forgive me.” Those words go a long way toward healing the hurt that angry words caused. I know this is true because I’ve had to say ‘I’m sorry for what I said’ on more than one occasion.
SPEAK LIFE, friends.
