Word Power

Word Power

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but mean words crush my spirit.” Okay, the popular saying ends with “but words will never hurt me.” If you’re honest with yourself, however, you’ll probably agree that negative words can have a crushing effect.

How would it make you feel if your best friend walked up and said something mean about your new outfit? Or how about if your dad called you lazy for not cleaning your room? What if your brother called you selfish for eating the last doughnut? You’d feel bad, right? The truth is, words have a lot of power, and God knows it. Proverbs 16:24 says, “Kind words are like honey—sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.” Isn’t that cool to compare words to honey? Solomon could have written that “kind words are like honey—sticky on the fingers and tasty on corn bread.” But he specifically said they’re “sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.”

Honey is refreshing and sweet. And scientists have discovered that honey is packed with antiseptic, antioxidant, and cleansing properties. Some people claim honey can help with acne, bad breath, colds, arthritis, and hair loss. Kind words may not be able to cure a stomachache (another claim made by honey lovers), but they can make another person feel better. Experts say it takes about ten kind statements to counteract one negative statement. Would you agree?

It’s natural for us to focus on the negative. Somebody says something mean about us, and that’s all we can think about. And once we start dwelling on the negative, it’s easy to let negative things slip out of our mouths. When you’re about to let an unkind word roll off your tongue, remember this verse. Do you want your words to make people feel sweet or to make them feel sick? It’s not always easy to control our words, but it is possible.

Daddy-Daughter Time

Watch the movie Charlotte’s Web together sometime this week. Do the words that Charlotte spins in her web build up Wilbur or tear him down? What’s the overall effect of her words and those of the other barnyard animals? What can you learn about words from this fictitious barn spider?

Go through the other questions about this movie in the Charlotte’s Web section of appendix A, Father-Daughter Movie Nights. When you’re finished, say at least one kind thing to each member of your family.

What’s The Word?

Kind words are like honey—sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.   Proverbs 16:24