26 January 2022

The things we say sometimes backfire on us. This happened on two occasions with my daughter, Melissa, and her 4 year old daughter, Willow. Both brought a smile to my face.

Melissa came into the room and stated to Willow and her three older sisters, “time to pack away your things and get ready for dinner.” Willow did not want to. It wasn’t that she did not want to stop doing what she was doing but she did not want to do the chore of packing away.

So Melissa said, “Ok, if you don’t pack away you will lose ‘iPad time.’” This is the allocated time they are allowed to be on an iPad for play, watching YouTube Kids or other shows, movies that have been approved by her parents. Melissa and Scott have put in blocks so that the children do not watch certain shows or accidently see something they should not.

Willow defiantly said, “Ok I’ll have no iPad time” and loudly stated to all who could hear, “I have lost my iPad time.”

In the spur of the moment Willow appeared to have won this battle. But no. When iPad time came around, she missed out. The words that came out from her mouth, her choices that she chose came with repercussions. No iPad time. No fun. Grumpy face was she.

A few days later Melissa said to the family, “We are going out, everyone get your shoes.” Willow yelled from the bedroom, “where are we going?” Melissa said, “China.” No, they were not going to China. It was just an off the cuff word basically saying, ‘who knows?’ They were just going to get some fresh air.

But Willow was so excited. Was chatting away to her older sister Charlotte, “oh we better hurry, we are going to China. Mum where is China? How far will it take us to get there?……”

Melissa told her as she was strapping her into her carseat. “We are not going to China. We are going for a walk in the fresh air.” The shoulders slumped and her voice said sadly, “But I’ve always wanted to go to China.”

Oh, a laugh came from my throat with that statement.

Now we all know that Melissa was having some fun and simply saying that we don’t know what we are doing, but does the listener (Willow) know that?

Willow agreeing to no iPad time needed to be followed through for her sake and for her discipline and followed through by her Mum too.

I know both of these situations were not world crashing down moments, but it goes to show you, though, how powerful our words are. What we say is important. It’s important for our integrity.

Our yes needs to mean yes and our no, no.

Like a madman shooting firebrands and deadly arrows so is the man who deceives his neighbour and says “I was only joking”.

Proverbs 26:18-19

I’m sure most of us can remember a situation where what came out of a person’s mouth was a lie. Was far from the truth. Was a joke that backfired badly. We do need to “think before we speak” as my mother used to say. Or my aunt would say, “Watch out if you speak bad words about anyone for if the wind changes your face will stay like it is. Twisted, cruel, harsh and out of shape.”

As Christians we who represent Christ should be more cautious at what comes out of our mouths. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to bite our tongue, stop the thoughts, if they would cause anyone harm or confusion.

We should speak and live as it says in the book of 1 Peter:

Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 4:11

May these jottings from my journal inspire you to believe in and fall in love with Christ- the hope of the world, as stated in Jeremiah 17:7, ‘Blessed is the man who believes and trusts in and relies on the Lord and whose hope and confident expectation is the Lord!’

Love

Rosemary

Every week groups of ladies meet together to chat about the things I raise in my weekly blog post and to chat about life in general. We call these ‘Heart Connect’ groups. If you would like more information please click HERE.