Watching Our Words

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” is an English nursery rhyme dating back to 1862. We all said this when some bully, or some insensitive friend, made remarks to us or about us. Even though we said it, we knew it wasn’t true. Words do hurt, sometimes more than sticks and stones. I was reminded of this not long ago, when a friend made a hurtful remark about me. If the remark had been true it wouldn’t have hurt so bad, but it was false. Perhaps a misunderstanding, perhaps built-up frustration, I’m not sure what prompted it, but it hurt. The words reminded me of Psalm 55:21, “The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart; His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords.” I came away from that experience praying another Psalm, “Let the words of my mouth . . . be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord” (Psalm 19:14). If you watched your words this week, what would they look like? Join me in the watch.

Join me this week in praying for the following global requests:
• Pray for missionaries around the world who share the real meaning of the Easter season this week.
• Pray for Ken and Kathy and their new church start in the Oran Park Primary School in Western Sydney, Australia. They started on February 21 with 57 in attendance, and had 70 in attendance last week.
• Pray for Ashley and Canvas church on Vancouver Island. They started three years ago with 15 people, and have been growing ever since, baptizing 21 last year. Over 200 children already enrolled in Canvas Camps this year. They now have an opportunity to purchase property for their church.