Body

Body

Evil words destroy. Godly skill rebuilds.

Proverbs 11:9, TLB

In the country church of a small village, an altar boy serving the priest at Sunday Mass accidentally dropped the cruet of wine. The village priest struck the altar boy sharply on the cheek and in a gruff voice shouted, “Leave the altar and don’t come back!” The boy, Tito, became the Communist leader of Yugoslavia. In the cathedral of a large city, an altar boy serving the bishop at Sunday Mass accidentally dropped the cruet of wine. With a warm twinkle in his eyes the bishop gently whispered, “Someday you will be a priest.” That boy grew up to become Archbishop Fulton Sheen. Oh, the power of words, be they written or spoken.^a

Proverbs 11:9 points out the huge contrast between destruction and rebuilding. Our mouths can destroy, ruin, tear down, do away with—or they can rebuild, form, develop, establish, and strengthen.

When I was in junior high and high school, I studied violin with Perry Crafton, a violinist in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. During one of my lessons, one of his fellow symphony players stopped by. Looking at me, Mr. Crafton’s friend asked, “So, does she play well?” “She not only plays well, but she has an excellent sense of pitch,” Perry responded. As you can imagine, I felt affirmed. Now that I’m in my fifties, I still feel encouraged by what he said.

Throughout each day we use our mouths to speak many words to our children. Are we destroying and tearing down, or building and strengthening?

Father,

Forgive me for the times when the words from my mouth have been destructive. Please help everything I say to be affirming so that my children and others around me will be strengthened and built up. Amen.