Words ...

Recently a spate of events made me very down and sad...how simple words that come out from the human mouth can make or break a person.

The Bible mentions about in Proverbs 12:18 - "Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing."

Just on Tuesday, because of some harsh words that was spoken, someone from the service was asked to leave. This comes to me as a shock because I personally know that person and he is very dedicated and caring to his work. It was with such dread in my heart when the announcement was made about his dismissal, immediately you can see the change in faces of many people, people who had known him for years, they started chatting about him....such is the "volatility" of human relationships - WORDS. You can be so good to this person, yet when he makes a mistake, a gush of tongue, he's doomed forever?

A series of events that happened over the past few days, words exchanged thru the wonders of communication, SMS, MSN, email, talk. ..You begin to ask yourself is technology making ur life so much easier that you really do not need to hear the person's voice anymore when communicating? Of course, the Bible also says, "When words are many, he who holds his tongue is wise." But isn't non-verbal communication sometimes shouting a different message from what you want to portray? Or even when I receive a phone call from someone, I hear the words spoken, inferencing from the tone that is spoken to me can be quite painful for me also...that's it when I discover new truths, new facets of my relationships with these people around me and friendships...It helps me too to evaluate my speech and the way I should relate to this person.

Words that i heard exchanged over the office, Words exchanged over the lunch table, words simply exchanged between friends, all contribute to this volatility of the relationships.

One word, Charge! kills many soldiers on the battlefield.
Two words, Go away! Sends a poor child who needs help alone to her haplessness.
Three words, I love you etc Builds relationships and reassures love among them.
You do the maths..

If we can say there's no greater wound caused in this world than one caused by words. How true!

I myself am guilty of saying words, too harsh too fast that people are taken aback and are hurt.
That's when I "fall from grace" from my friends and take a long while to reconcile these relationships. Many of these relationships could be hanging by a thread, and it really saddens me to know that the last words i have spoken to them could be in anger or disgust...I have NEVER seen those people again...the world is small, but it can be one in a billionth chance for God to cause your paths to cross again..volatile relationships never healed again...

I am not saying that relationships between people that make or break easily, in this case "Volatile" are not stable or with no meaning.. but the fact that is human relationships are built with communication, words exchanged carry a most important factor in maintaining them.

I remember words spoken to me years ago, a lot of occasions, these voices are like swimming in my head. These words, make or break me. Positive kinds words, reconcile, build, start a new friendship or relationship, reaffirm all doubts, reassure and most often heal. Whereas negative words does quite the contary.

What's more of little children, who remember what their parents had said to them or teachers, leaving most of the time a delible mark in their minds and hearts, forming them to what they are as a person now.

Lord Jesus, I ask for Your Holy Presence and Your Holy Spirit to come, cleanse the condition of my heart and the filth of my tongue. Help me speak meaningful words and words that exalt You, build my friends up and show love to the people around me including my loved ones. When the outflow of my heart caused me to speak in unkind words, may Your Holy Spirit come and guide me to control them and to hold them back even before they come out of my mouth. I need You as always, lead me to Your ways and Your will for me. Amen!