Think Yourself Healthy
The Power of your Words
We all know the children’s mantra “sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me” sounds innocent but really not a truth; for hurtful words can plant bitter seeds in our childhood which can bear bitter fruits years later, reaping havoc in the lives of those who have received them. The scars of physical wounds can be seen, but emotional wounds unseen, can continue to hurt as those harsh degrading words from a parent continue to play over and over in your mind. “They sharpen their tongues to use like swords.They aim their poisonous words like arrows”. (Psalms 64:3).
In everyday life we meet people who are hurting but remain silent because during their childhood they were not allowed to be heard; they cannot express their feelings to their parents, so suffering in silence keeps them out of trouble. As they become adults, they adopt that same attitude “if I don’t express myself I would not be verbally abused, I would be liked”. This mindset is brought to school, to the workplace, into the marriage and every aspect of their lives; because they believe that to articulate their feelings would generate insults or receive a tirade of verbal abuse. This results in timidity, withdrawal or even depression.
There are others who believe that they can turn a deaf ear to emotional abuse into positive instead of negative.
Then we see an overachiever, trying to prove that ” I am not what you think”, and he/she would spend their lives trying to counteract the hurtful words that mother, father or an authority figure said to them in their childhood. They believe that performance would bring them attention. The result is, they are trying to be the person that God said you should be without the help of God; pulling themselves up by their own bootstraps. They will rise to the corporate ladder, but not spending time with the family, they become famous and wealthy, and exert pressure on their children to excel, but disciple without affection is harsh, causing children to be afraid of their parent, and this leads to hatred, rebellion, and lack of intimacy in the family.
Most every equipment comes with a manual for directions on its use, and God has left us with a very valuable manual for life, the Scriptures. The scriptures say in 2Timothy 1:7, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind”. The apostle Paul was reminding young Timothy of the sincere faith that lived in his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice and now lives in him, and to fan into flames the gift of God. These gifts of POWER, LOVE, and a SOUND MIND. are available to all God’s children, because we are wired to receive them. Therefore it is the right of all children to be loved, affirmed, and empowered and not be overcome by fear. They should be given boundaries so they know they are loved and secure; to have a home which is a safe place where they will always want to visit.
Receiving continuous emotional abuse causes the body’s function to be thrown off balance, and sickness sets in. Let our words bring healing, take the message from the Psalm of King David, “keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit” (Psalm 34:14)You are made in the image of God, anything spoken negatively about you is a lie. The Scriptures teach us that “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat is fruit. (Proverbs 18:2). Reject those lies and replace them with God’s truth. Believe what God says about you, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made” “I am a new creation in Christ’ “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” God has placed before you life and death, His Word is Life, therefore choose Life!
Blessings Shalom
Norma.