Seeds of life or seeds of destruction…..

Remember when we were in elementary school and the teacher had you play that game "telephone”. The one where the person at the beginning of the line came up with a sentence and by the time it got to the end of the line it was something completely different. I was always amazed at how much the sentence changed from the beginning to end.....like not even close.

It got me to thinking about things I’ve heard about others and heard about myself. And the words I have SPOKE about others.

How many times have you heard something about someone and repeated it?? Did the story change?? Did you leave something out or add something?? What about hearing something about yourself?? Was the story so off from what actually happened? How many of us have judged someone based on something we heard about them?? Or something we think we know about them.

I’m guilty of all of these. Guilty of judging someone because of something I heard about them. Guilty of manipulating a story to make myself look better. Guilty of pointing out others sins to diminish mine.

On the flip side, I’ve had people tell me things they have heard about me….some things true….some things couldn’t be further from the truth.

James 3:8-9 says “ but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.”

The bottom line is our tongue is a weapon…that can be used for good or evil. There is some much power in the words we speak. When we take a story about someone, talk to others about it, and then those people continue to talk about it, you’re giving the enemy the upper hand. One of the enemy’s most powerful tactics is to divide people, especially Jesus followers…..and what easier way to do that than to create a narrative about someone or something. A narrative that could be twisted and manipulated. A narrative that could be used to divide and conquer.

My challenge to myself and to you is to speak life into the people around you. Speak about the goodness of others. Speak about the value of people. Speak about the importance of their testimony. Speak words that encourage others.

And when something bad is said to you about someone, let it stop there.