God's Purposes in Motherhoodნიმუში

Proverbs 18:21
The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences. (NLT)

WORDS
I was in a parking lot one time, and a mom was leaving the supermarket with her son. The kid got away from her and ran near the cars, and the mom responded so strongly and negatively to him that it just broke my heart to hear it. In that moment, it hit me how easy it is for us to say things that hurt. The kid might laugh or might not seem to care, but the Bible teaches us about the power of life and death that words have.

One of the areas where we mess up the most is with our tongue. We need to remember, though, that we don't just raise our kids physically—we do it spiritually, too. Every word we say, good or bad, intentional or not, will have an effect on our kids' lives. After all, words are like seeds we plant, and they'll sprout one day. Science has proven the positive effects that parents blessing their baby has, even when in the womb.

Even though we're not perfect, in our family, we try to avoid calling our kids bad names or saying things that label them in a negative way. Make a choice today to only say words that bless. Often, home life and daily stress don't make this mindset easy. Maybe your own family didn't build this habit of using words to bless, but it's up to us to decide, every day, in obedience to God's word, to protect our kids' hearts by blessing them with words that nourish and build them up.