You like it when someone builds you up but are apprehensive when someone tears you down. Everyone likes to have affirmative words of encouragement and love given to them. Few people like for someone to say words that hurt them personally or attack their character. You are wired to be encouraged and to like affirmations.
That being said, why do you so often use your tongue to say negative things? You know it is destructive to others, but you do it anyway. More often than not, the words that come out your mouth are not positive but negative. Let illness or a bad turn of events in your life happen, and the negative attitude and actions expressed in your words seem to come so naturally. I like a quote I recently saw, “The tongue is the only tool that become sharper with use.” Ouch! That hits just a little too close to home. The more you get in the habit of saying negative things, either to yourself or others, the easier it gets to follow those words with negative responses the next time one of those events happen in your life. You tend to tear down others.
The Holy Scriptures tells us that negative responses are one way to handle a situation, but they do not have to be the only way. “There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing” (Prov. 12:18). In other words, when you act by saying something before you think, you act “rashly.” This is compared to someone thrusting a sword in order to do damage to another. This a vivid picture of what happens when you say something without thinking—it causes damage to yourself or someone else. But look again at the end of the verse; it talks about, not only building someone up, but causing healing, which is not something you do not often think about.
So think before you speak. Let the words out of your mouth bring healing not destruction to yourself or others. Your words are powerful. Let your words be healing words not destructive words. Start right now!
