"Sticks and stones can break your bones but words will never hurt you."
It's a lie!
I know that's what "every" parent tells their kid when the bully just verbally abused them, but it just isn't true. Broken bones can heal--but the hurt caused by some words may leave scars for a lifetime.
Words can be even more damaging than swords and arrows--which is how David saw it in Psalm 64. "They sharpen their tongues like swords and aim their words like deadly arrows. They shoot from ambush at the innocent man" (vv3-4). God has a way, however, of turning these arrow-shooters upside down. "God will shoot them with arrows...He will turn their own tongues against them" (vv7-8). God often uses the very words of the wicked to bring their ruin.
While it is easy for us to think this chapter doesn't apply to us, I would encourage you to think again.
You and I may not be part of the "wicked evildoers" crowd that David talks about here, but we certainly can allow our speech to mimic theirs if we are not careful. We can cut people like a sword and pierce their very soul with hurtful arrows flying out of our mouths. We are especially vulnerable to doing this with those closest to us--our family.
Many adults today are walking around with emotional scars because of how their parents talked to them when they were children.
Remember, sticks and stones do break bones, but words can emotionally damage someone for life. Let's think about how we talk to others.
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Frank Banfill is an author, international speaker, and president of MaxPoint Ministries, whose purpose is to help individuals, churches and ministries reach their full potential. Please forward this blog to your family & friends. Not a subscriber? Sign up now at www.FranksBibleBlog.com.
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