A pastor visited a member on her
sick bed, bent over her and whispered into her ear, “You will not die.” She
survived. A church member who has failed her exams over and over narrated her
frustration to her pastor. After praying with her, he assured her that she will
pass. She did. A lady in her 30s went about with a gloomy face. Her pastor met
her and asked what the matter was. She lamented her single state and loneliness,
and the pastor said something like this: “What do you mean, a beautiful girl
like you… how many girls do you think are as good looking…” She brightened up.
A brilliant young man well qualified for his dream course feared he may not do
well in it. A counsellor talked him up. “See, people who did not even make as
good a grade as yours at Ordinary Level read this course and succeeded.” The
young man picked courage, entered for his dream course and graduated
successfully.
These are all examples of healthy mouths. Words are powerful.
They wound or heal, encourage or discourage, lift up or pull down. It is
doubtful if any word has a ‘neutral’ effect. The Bible says, “The
mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life” (Proverbs 10: 11), and again, “let your conversation be always full of
grace, seasoned with salt” (Colossians 4: 6).
Life presents us with challenges
that we could possibly surmount to reach the next level. Experience, however,
shows that not all succeed. Some fail out of fear. But much of our fears exist
only in the mind, and could easily be dispelled by some words of encouragement.
The Lord Jesus Christ spoke words of encouragement to the hurting of society.
His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 – 7) was to, among others, the poor in
spirit, those who mourn, the hungry and thirsty, and the persecuted.
We have a responsibility to our neighbours to cheer the faint
and lift the fallen. We may not know the extent to which our words can go to
changing destinies in the right direction. No one loves to listen to
discouraging words. We have enough discouragements already and are only looking
for who would remove the dis-, so ‘courage
could rise with danger’, according to the hymn writer. It takes a healthy mouth
to do that. Decide that your mouth will speak strength to someone today. Be an
agent of courage and peace today. Lift someone up. Peace be with you.
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