WE GET WHAT WE SAY

By Danelle Carvell

                                                                                    

                                                                                    

                                                                                    

Whether talking to yourself or others, what comes out of your mouth is what creates your life.

I don't always take my own advice. I know the consequences of talking negatively. The Bible is filled with warnings about being careful with our words.  But this is a hard lesson to learn for most people because we live in a negative world, and we are all prone to focus on the negative side of life. It's part of our fallen nature.

I told my sister today that I've been feeling like Squidward. If you're not a fan of the Sponge Bob cartoon, I should explain that Squidward is a grouchy Squid who lives under the sea with other entertaining characters. I laugh at his grouchiness, but sometimes I see myself in him and that's not funny. 

Saturday I had a mouse in my bedroom for the second night in a row. As someone who gets very little sleep on a regular basis, this was not a pleasant thing. I've watched how mice can crawl up fabric and up walls and I imagined this mouse crawling up my bed skirts and bunking with me for the night. The next morning I dumped a carton of eggs on the floor as I was preparing to go to my sister's house for a cookie and craft day. 

When I got the egg mess cleaned up, I snapped and decided to just go back to bed. Lately I feel like every time I want to do something fun, something happens to discourage me or exhaust me. There's a heaviness on everyone right now it seems. I hear people talking about problems at work, among families, and personal struggles that are wearing people down to the point of despair and depression. When this happens, it is so easy to become a negative talker and I often fall right into the trap. Before I know it, I'm complaining about everything and everyone.

I know that God hates grumbling and complaining. And I feel guilty every time I do it. As a Christian, I'm not supposed to blend in with this negative world, and I shouldn't be controlled by negative emotions. The first step toward changing this bad habit is admitting that I do it. With step one behind me, I must try harder to focus on the things I say and force my mouth to be a projector of life, not death. 

The Bible warns that death and life are in the power of the tongue. Most people are clueless to the amount of death they speak over themselves and others on a daily basis. The night I was kept awake by a mouse, I recall saying that I was going to go insane if I didn't get some sleep. I actually cursed myself by saying that. My words can create life or death. What I should have said was, "God will protect me from the mouse and he will help me sleep." 

I did finally fall asleep after I calmed down and prayed for that mouse to stay away from me. I put in some earplugs and trusted in God's goodness as I waited for sleep to come. I got 2 1/2 hours sleep that night, which is pretty typical for me. It's better than zero. 

It's not easy to take every negative thought captive and turn it into a positive thought. It's not easy to train ourselves to speak positive life-giving words in every situation. I'm sixty and I still haven't mastered it. But I do know how important it is to my mental and physical health to speak healing words upon myself. 

When I say nothing good ever happens to me, I set that exact thing in motion. When I call myself poor or tired, then that's exactly what I will stay. As long as I speak negative curses over myself, I will never break free from an exhausted mind and a body full of pain and afflictions. 

The ultimate example of how we should respond under persecution is Jesus. He faced crowds demanding his death, betrayal and abandonment by people he trusted, beatings and whippings, and the horrible pain of being crucified with metal spikes on a wooden cross. Yet, at the height of His pain, He didn't lash out. He didn't swear, complain or curse anyone. He kept his emotions and his tongue under control. And He spoke life into the situation when he pleaded with the Father, "Forgive them, for they do not know what they do." (Luke 23:34)

I pray that I will remember that example and become better at speaking life and using the power of my words to make things better and not worse. There's more than enough negativity in the world. I shouldn't be adding to it. God expects more from His children.