“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.”

With Iqra Academy and other schools in the Bradford District re-opening today, it got me thinking about this popular little verse which is often used by little children to respond to someone who has just called them names, as a way of saying, “You didn’t hurt me.”

But there’s not very much truth to this statement, I’d rather take sticks and stones to name-calling any day.

You see, if you get hurt by a stick or a stone, you’ll maybe get a cut or a bruise that will eventually heal.

However, when we get called a name, even though it may not leave a physical scar, it will hurt your heart.

How powerful are words?

The Bible says that life and death are in the power of the tongue and that means that by the words we speak to someone else, we can bring either life or death into their heart – that’s a sobering thought.

So, when we use foul or abusive language, calling people names, we are speaking words of death to them and those words are “cutting” remarks that are destroying that person.

Proverbs 12:18 says,

“Thoughtless words can wound as deeply as any sword, but wisely spoken words can heal” (Good News Translation) 

When we speak good and helpful words, we can encourage the person we are speaking to, speaking life to them.

The Bible says about the tongue in James 3: 3-6:

"A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it!"

"It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell."  (The Message)

We all have a choice as to how we will use our words and life and death are in the power of your tongue.

We have the ability to build someone up…or tear them down.

How are you going to use your words?

1 Thessalonians 5:11 says: 

“So encourage one another and help one another, just as you are now doing...” (Good News Translation) 

There’s so much fighting and hurting going on in our world today.

Let’s go forth into our world as the ambassadors of love that God has called us to be – people of love, commissioned to the healing of broken people, and a force for God.

Your kind and compassionate words could heal someone’s broken heart today, and give them hope.