Words can bring death or life! Talk too much, and you will eat everything you say. Proverbs 18:21 (CEV)
We’ve all heard it said, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” There’s a lot of wisdom in that little saying! In fact, guarding your words is never more crucial than when you sense weariness pushing against you.
I remember reading an article by a neurologist who said that the brain area that looks after speech overrides the rest of the brain. That makes sense because our ears and hearts obviously listen to and believe the words we speak. That’s why saying things like, “I’ve had it. I just can’t do it anymore,” or, “I’m so sick and tired of this situation,” affects us internally. If you don’t believe that, look at it another way. Would you want your child to state every day, “I’m worthless. Nobody loves me”? Of course not. Why?
We know their words affect their belief systems, self-esteem and identity. Because our words carry power, our brains take what we say as the truth and retain it.
For example, when I worked in healthcare, I constantly heard co-workers declare that problems come in threes. People who repeatedly say that start to believe it. The minute they have one problem, they automatically expect more. Whenever troubles come, I never say, “This might be the one that takes us out!” I don’t believe it, so I don’t talk that way.
How about you? Maybe you’ve been “eating” the wearying effects of speaking pessimistic words lately. Today’s proverb tells us the solution: the more we guard what we say, the less we have to fight off exhaustion. That’s a powerful gift to give yourself!