Devotional for Thursday, June 23, 2016
“The Power of a Spoken Word”
by Dona Hake
Have you ever seen someone appear to fall apart as a result of someone being unkind to them or a word spoken that was hurtful. Many times people may not realize that the careless word they just spoke could potentially put a hurting person in a very bad place. If a person is walking in a place of despair and discouragement and they feel there is no way out, they need lifted up. Oh Lord, help us to see with Your eyes the hurting people around us.
There is a cliche I have heard often. “It was the straw that broke the camel’s back!” Usually this is said when someone just seems they cannot go on and they throw up their hands and just give up. The idiom the straw that broke the camel’s back is from an Arabic proverb about how a camel is loaded beyond its capacity to move or stand. Many times people become paralyzed by fear of failing again or they just feel they can not go on any longer.
Proverbs 18:21 (GNT)
“What you say can preserve life or destroy it;
so you must accept the consequences of your words.”
The truth is our words carry power that not only affects us but it has the power to affect others. On a positive note I love to think of the power of one encouraging word. Have you ever been there?…you are about to give up, and one person speaks one powerful encouraging word and out of no where you just feel that with God’s help YOU CAN!!!! There is power in our words. Never underestimate the power of death and life in our tongues. May we guard our tongues that we speak words that bring health, healing, and joy to those around us.