"Sticks and Stones...."

....can break my bones,

But, WORDS will never hurt me!"

Remember that ditty from our childhoods?

Couldn't be further from the truth, right?

WORDS are POWERFUL!
In them lies health or sickness,
Life or death...
Kindness or hurt....

WORDS.

Jesus reminds us that "Whatever is in your heart determines what you say."

Oops....!

and, if that wasn't enough, Jesus goes on to remind us,

"You must give an account on judgment day for EVERY idle word you speak."  Mt. 12:36

So.....what does "idle" mean, anyway?

"Ineffective"  "Powerless"  "Fruitless"

Does that help?

In other 'words',  is what we say

EFFECTIVE, POWERFUL, FRUITFUL to others?

Or is our conversation, are our words

useless, weak, nubby, sour, small?

So, my friends, as we step into 2010,

as we continue to CHOOSE to live as Jesus would have us live,

may our hearts be filled w/ JESUS

SO THAT.....

our words are healthy and not sickening
life-giving and not draining
kind and not hurtful.....

Listening,
        Ele