Safety doesn’t come from the Secret Service.
We all know know what happened Saturday. A Presidential assassination attempt.
It left us shaken.
Feeling insecure.
There are lots of pundits extolling the importance of political rivals toning down the hateful rhetoric.
But let’s not look at them. Let’s look at ourselves. How often do we have to remind ourselves that “words matter”? They matter a lot, and for Christians, they matter even more.
Here’s a challenge for all of us.
Let’s take this week to monitor the labels we place on people and the adjectives we use. Did you know that one of the cardinal rules of writing is the limited use of adjectives and adverbs? I think this might be good advice for Christians as well.
How about we learn to avoid those words? Instead, let’s use words that glorify God, and there we can use all the adjectives we want: Father, Mighty, Savior, Shepherd, Majestic, ….there are hundreds of them.
God’s names are positive words.
Why does this work?
When we use God’s names, it changes our mindset. Knowing God’s names reminds us he is in charge. He is the one who saves, he is the one who shepherds us, he is our father.
We feel at peace when we speak God’s names, which are his attributes. When we do there is much less of a chance we will feel the negative feelings that prompt hateful words.
Hateful words come from bitter, negative hearts. We neutralize those words by neutralizing our hearts first.
You’d be surprised ow often you find yourself thinking or speaking destructive words. When you start to monitor your words, it can really change your life. Trying to capture one’s thoughts is a lot harder than capturing our spoken words. I’m a huge advocate of listening to our spoken words.
A personal example
Have you ever noticed that if you say you are tired, you feel tired? I’m afraid I fall into this trap myself. When I change my words, my thoughts change. My thoughts circle back to my brain, and my brain triggers my physical response, and I no longer feel tired. (Assuming I’m not sick.)
Our minds are so very powerful.
They steer us.
Influence our behavior.
But God created our minds. We are told to love the Lord our God, with all our hearts, all our souls, all our strength, and all our mind. (I rearranged the order.) It’s a command.
Does God give commands we can’t keep?
Nope!
That means we can control our minds. Which means we can control our minds, thoughts and words. We can choose positive words.
So, how about it?
Does bitterness, and anger reside only in politicians? Do only politicians use hateful rhetoric? It’s easy to cast blame on others. It’s easy to look out there and point our fingers. But let’s start with us.
If we use hateful or politically charged words in discussions, we add fuel to the fire. Let’s start putting out those fires by choosing better words that douse the flames. Yes, we can express our views and opinions, but we can do it in a way that promotes peace, not friction.
I hope you have a good day, and blessings to all of you.
