Use. Your. Words. It was a line that I would say to students when they were frustrated and began to kick desks, slam books, etc. Asking them to use their words, acknowledged the anger that they felt while offering them an opportunity to vocalize the sentiment. When the student was able to articulate what was causing the unrest, we were able to come to some form of understanding about the situation. Saying how they felt and why, might not have changed their circumstance, but it usually shifted their perspective. Verbalizing emotions, also enabled me to realize, more fully, where the student needed further encouragement. 

Words are powerful. In Proverbs 18:21 we are told that the tongue has the power of life and death. When we choose to speak, we are making a decision whether to uplift or demolish. I do not know who first uttered, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me,” but that is a grand lie. Throughout the Bible and even in our own lives, we have witnessed and experienced the demoralizing affect that words can possess. Fortunately, words can be as effective when used as salve for an emotional wound. 

In Genesis, God speaks and what is spoken comes into existence. God gifts us with a tiny portion of this ability. Being that the world has a tendency to be a brutalizing place, filled with dangers that threaten our being, how marvelous then that a basic form of communication, when wielded in love, can create a space that is filled with peace. That is what is intended when someone is given an opportunity to use her/his/their words. Choose lovingly.