Many of us grew up with this mantra, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never harm me”.
During 40 years as a Pastor and a counsellor, I have realised that many people struggling with issues can trace the problem back to a word. Something someone said. A careless and thoughtless word fell from someone’s lips and entered your ears.
Often the words may not even be true and have no basis, but the wound was real.
The damage done by sticks and stones hurts, but time heals. Words can cut deeper and do damage that not even time can heal.
Maybe that is what led to the stern warning in Matthew 12:36, “But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgement for every careless word they have spoken.”
The problem with words is, they come so quickly and easily but they can never be taken back. Not even the word “sorry” can stop the damage of a careless word.
With that in mind, maybe it is right for us to be “… slow to speak and quick to listen”.
Some of my greatest personal regrets are words spoken on the spur of the moment. In anger or frustration, I have said things that I should never have said. The words can never be taken back and the hurt will last a lifetime. If words are so powerful and their effect so great, maybe it would be wise to remember another simple mantra, “Think before you speak”.
