There are many ways of communicating with others. We say 'I love you' when we hug and kiss, 'I reject you' when we refuse to look at someone or spend time with them, 'I'm happy to meet you' when we smile and 'keep your distance' when we scowl. Sometimes we try to hide what we're feeling on the inside when we speak. We might say how much we enjoyed someone's party when in reality we felt lonely and couldn't wait for it to end, or we might praise a person who we think will be influential in our next career move, even if we actually despise them and think they're incompetent. Words.
But words are powerful. With them we create and with them we tear down. Jesus said that every careless word that a person speaks will go before them and be weighed by our Father God on judgment day. That's a scary thought. Jesus also said that what we say flows directly from what is on the deep inside part of us. He described a person to be like a tree bearing fruit: a good tree will bear good fruit and a diseased tree will not. In the letter of James in the Bible he wonders how can it be possible that we build people up with our words one moment and tear them down the next?
I want to be a 'good tree'. I have done and said many hurtful things in the past, some intentional and some merely thoughtless. But I have brought the shreds of my own efforts to be good, to the foot of the Cross, and I have known what it feels like to be forgiven, and it feels good.... it feels clean. Lord Jesus, I am sorry for the people I have hurt in my life, but I'm moving on now. My new name will be ' Encourager'; my new name will be 'Hope Breather'; my new name will be 'Light Bringer'; my new name will be 'Caring' and 'Compassionate Giver.' What will yours be?
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