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Sticks and Stones

October 21st, 2008 by Jeremy Sprouse

Whoever first said “Stick and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” wasn’t the sharpest stick in the forest. The effect of words can stay with a person long after bruises would have healed and bones would have mended. Mental abuse has been shown to have a more severe impact on a child’s life than physical. We need to be cautious with the words we are using. The Bible describes a Christian’s speech with words such as: loving, truthful, graceful, gentle, wise, and so on. Unfortunately, these words do not always characterize our speech. We can dramatically improve our communication, however, by following a few Biblical instructions.
First, we need to start with our speech. We need to apply the Golden Rule: “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7:12). One of the areas this command has the greatest impact on our lives is in our conversations. In a study of married couples, researchers found each spouse’s response in conflict situations was similar to the other’s statement. If one spouse yelled, the other yelled back. If one spouse was sarcastic, the other was sarcastic, too. If one spouse was apologetic, the other responded apologetically. This just shows the wisdom of what Jesus said thousands of years ago. If we want others to talk to us in a pleasant manner, we must talk to them in a pleasant manner.
Second, we need to resist harsh speech. As mentioned above, the natural tendency is to respond to someone in the same manner they spoke to you. If we want to improve our conversations, sometimes we need to resist this tendency. Proverbs 15:1 tells us: “A gentle answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.” If someone acts or speaks harshly toward us, and we take the higher road by responding with gentleness and kindness, we can help diffuse the situation and the anger. Once the anger is settled, any problem becomes easier to work out and increases the chances of everyone leaving pleased.
If we can talk to others in a kind and caring manner and curb our tongue when we want to lash out we will find our speech much more pleasing to God, ourselves, and others.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 21st, 2008 at 11:55 am and is filed under Bulletin Articles.

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