"Sticks and stones shall break my bones, but words can never hurt me."

I mockingly sang this when other kids teased me or spoke bad about me. It's a common song. Most of you probably memorized it as a kid.

It's a song to protect our ego, yet it denies the truth. The truth that...

   ...words can hurt,
   ...words can be painful,
   ...words can break your spirit.
 

"The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison" (James 3:6-8).

The words we speak carry with them power--power to bless and power to curse. We can bless someone or curse someone with our words. Anxiety, fear and depression can be the result of negative words spoken over our lives.

 "You will never achieve anything."
 "You will always be like your mother."
 "You can never change.  You will always be like that."
 

Do these words sound hauntingly familiar? Maybe a parent, a relative, a teacher, a sibling, a friend spoke something like this to you. Rather than challenge it, you agreed.

Christy Henrich dreamed of going to the Olympics. She was already one of the world's top gymnasts. At a meet in Budapest in 1988, a US judge told her that she was too fat and needed to lose weight if she wanted to make the Olympic squad.

Over a period of six years, her health and her life plummeted, along with her weight. Anorexia had set in. Her organs eventually failed due to malnutrition, and her life had ended.

"The tongue has the power of life and death" (Proverbs 18:21a).

Today, search your heart for negative words or curses that may have been spoken over your life. Ask God to show you. Ask God to heal you. Receive his words over you--words of blessings and health.

Blessings!

Russell

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|  Russell Pond     <><
|  Season of Peace
|  email:  ponder@season.org
|  web:    http://www.season.org

© Russell Pond 1999
Reprinted with permission