Speak Life

Speak Life

By Sarah Stollenmaier, Class of 2014

Candler, North Carolina

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

                Words matter. God made the entire world with just words. He made the sun, the moon, the stars, the land, the ocean, and all the living creatures with just His words! Isn't that amazing?

            Because we were made in God's image, we have the power to create with our words too. We have the power to create life or death. No, not literally speaking, but haven't you ever had something mean said to you that killed you inside? On the other hand, haven't you ever had anything nice said to you that just really encouraged you and made you feel like there was life springing up inside of you? Kind words uplift and encourage and mean words tear down and destroy. Words matter.

            During my freshman year of high-school I went to a school (not MPA) that wasn't very accepting of new-comers. They would always tell me how much they didn't want me there. They made fun of me all the time for things like being a vegetarian or being "too mature." They also told me how much they hated me and just wished that I would go away. They really did kill me inside that year.

            When I left that school I came to Mount Pisgah Academy. Because I had been so hurt the year before though, I was very hyper-sensitive. For every sarcastic, mean word that was said to me I would retaliate. The words that people said made me so angry sometimes that I would even take it out on those who were undeserving of my strong defences. Slowly but surely though, God was working on my heart. I realize that saying mean words to other people, whether it was in retaliation or not, only continues the cycle of hatred. Imagine if I had never said anything mean back to anyone. There would probably be over 1,000 mean words that would never have been spoken. Imagine if all of us could take back every rude, horrible thing we've ever said and change them into words of life. The earth would be such a happy place!

            Well why not start now? If we all want to be like Christ, which I believe we do, we need to make a conscious effort to speak words of life. It's not going to be easy. But God will help us and we’ll all be happier because of it.