Day 46 Words

Out of the overflow of our hearts, we speak.

I love words.
I love to write them in pen, in pencil, in crayon, and marker.
I love to write them forwards and backwards and upside down and all around.
I love words.
However there is little in life that can be so easily and readily available as words, but carries with it such a heavy responsibility.
An aptly spoken word springs from our mouth and can lift up the broken and disappointed among us. And yet from the same mouth, and often in the same moment, a word meanly spoken tumbles out and can break a heart and shatter joyful anticipation.

We need to carefully guard our words. Both what we allow to cross the thresholds of our mouth, the barrier of our teeth and lips. And how we speak them, the attitude and tone in which we speak them. I have seen first hand how a careless word spoken in the heat of the moment can destroy something I have worked a long time to build. I have borne the weight of responsibility for hurt caused by the wagging of my own tongue. And yet I have also seen first hand the light that springs to an eye with an encouraging word and love wrapped in letters.

As I read through Day 46 (Prov. 7:1 - 20:21) today and wrote a note next to each verse that spoke about words, I was astounded at how much Proverbs says about the words we speak.

Our hearts are much like a tea pot full of hot water. What we treasure in our hearts is like the tea that steeps, the longer it steeps the stronger in flavor the pot of tea becomes. True adding sugar and milk (or cream) can help, but only to enhance the flavor not mask it, or drastically change it. If you want peppermint flavor, then you are not going to use chamomile tea and expect the minty flavor of peppermint. So if I want to speak words that lift up, encourage, speak life and praise God then I need to steep my heart in His Word, His presence. That way when I add the milk and sugar of words and actions, it enhances the fragrant and beautiful flavor there. I am not going to be able to treasure regrets, guilt, anger, bitterness and expect to have a heart full of patience, kindness and loving words. It just does not work that way. So I clearly see where my problem lies, now the hard word of disciplining myself to break some bad habits...