Kill A Word

Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. Proverbs 18:21 KJV

There's a song by Eric Church called "Kill a Word". The chorus (paraphrased) says give me sticks and stones, break my bones, but you can't unhear and you can't unsay. It's a reiteration of this verse. Which makes me wonder why as children we had that funny little rhyme, "sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me." The Bible disagrees. Words are powerful. Words can undo a life of good.

As an English major, one of my classes was wordsmithing, learning what words to use where and how certain words can change the meaning of a sentence. One thing I remember: 'cancelling words' - words that connect two thoughts but cancel the first one out, for good or bad. The main one? But. No matter what you say, if you say 'but', it will cancel all you said, leave the last part to be all that is heard. Words have power.

If there's one part of your body you should love, it's your tongue. Love it so much that you want nothing bad to ever cross it...coming or going. You don't want to eat bad food. You shouldn't want to say bad words, hurtful words. Use your words wisely.