Thursday, February 19, 2015

You're Hurting My Ears Mommy



Every month, about the same time, I find myself losing control of my emotions with my kids. Speculate all you want, but we all know why.:-) By lose control, I mean when I get overwhelmed, I yell. Yes, it's terrible. Before I'm done vomiting my words, the guilt is already gushing in. Last month, I happened to yell at my third, sweet daughter, Kayla MERCY. Side note, I love that her middle name is Mercy. It is always such a good reminder to me of second chances. She responded, "Mommy, you're hurting my ears." I froze. Oh, my heart! It broke. Of course, I apologized and told her that this was unacceptable behavior on my part and nobody deserves to be spoken to this way. I asked for her forgiveness and received it immediately (children are such a great picture of how we should forgive) with a hug and kiss, but that phrase struck me so deeply... "you're hurting my ears." I still can't get it out of my head.

The things entering my daughters ears can also hurt her heart, mind and spirit. If I don't gain control over my tongue, it will have lasting negative effects. Think about your own life. We have all heard words that have scarred our hearts, our souls, permanently.  Let's not pass those on. The worst thing about words are, once they're uttered, then cannot be withdrawn. Forgiveness can be given, but there is no removing what has been spoken. Our careless words can hurt all of the ears they fall upon, even God's. God's word teaches that words are extremely influential, even to the point of life and death. Here are a few verses about that...

 "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."
 Ephesians 4:29 

"A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." 
 Proverbs 15:1-2 

 "The words of the reckless piece like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing."
Proverbs 12:18 



"A fools lips enter into contention and his mouth calls for blows. A fool's mouth is his destruction and his lips are the snare of his soul."
 Proverbs18:6-7


"Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight reign on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless." 

-
James 1:26

WHOA! My lack of control over my tongue renders my religion worthless! Ouch! There is NO DOUBT that God takes our words very seriously and we should too. Our tongues can reveal a ton about what we're dealing with in our hearts. We can use them to bring healing and life to people or injury and death. Let's not even get started on how gossip can ruin a persons life!

There are too many scriptures to list here about the power of our words and the types of people we are when we cannot control them... sometimes, we're just hormonal or foolish people and please don't think for a second that God's grace has run out for you, especially if this is a daily struggle. Ask God to reveal what is in your heart and heal it..."for the mouth speaks what the heart if full of." Matthew 12:34

I need to ask the Lord each day to bring the fruit of the spirit to life continually in me, especially SELF-CONTROL.  Do take a second, or a few solid minutes thinking about the kinds of words that are coming out of your mouth each day. The words you speak to or about God, your family, your friends, strangers. All of them can have great and lasting purpose for the good of those we encounter or for the bad. We need to make a decision about which side of that we want to be on. There is also no doubt from scripture that the mouths of fools bring about their demise. All fair warnings to each of us who confess Christ as our Savior. I'm more and more convicted as I type. Help us Lord!

What words can I use today to build life into the people around me? Do I need to apologize to anyone I have injured with my words? Will the words I speak today build people up or tear them down? Will they please God or hurt Him? My prayer today is that I will not hurt anyone with my words, but in fact do the exact opposite and build them up! Can you imagine the endless good we can produce together by simply paying attention to our words? It is immeasurable.


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