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The Power of Words
Part of my life has been lived in one language and part in another. I recently realized that the memories I have don't really have a language. I have to think about what year or time in my life it was before I can remember what language was being spoken at the time. So what is it I remember? It is people, events, feelings. I suppose there are words too, but it is their contenttheir meaning-that is most prevalent in my mind, not the language they were spoken in. Why is that? I think it is because words-and the tone they are spoken in-have the power to create something in the lives of those who hear them. Words evoke a response, be it voluntary or involuntary. And it is chiefly that response that we remember, long after the words have died down.
There is power in words. We can build up or tear down people with what we say to them or about them. Praise a child and you will watch him light up. Criticize him and you will see the hurt in his eyes and in his entire demeanor. As adults, we learn to hide our responses. We learn to tell ourselves that they really didn't mean what they said or that we don't really care. But the words have done their job-they have created something that we now have to deal with. Dismissing careless, hurtful words is a conscious choice that not everyone is equipped to make.
God spoke, "Let there be," and it was. And because we have been created in His image, our words too have a power of their own. There is no question that your words are creating something. The question is ... what?
"May the words of my mouth ... be pleasing in your sight, 0 Lord" Psalm 19:14.
-Maria Lund