The question is: Where does gossip originate? In a number of Scripture passages, the Lord informs us about the origins of gossip.

This might sound harsh but it is straight from Scripture. Gossip is fueled by hell’s flames. Gossip is one of Satan’s fiery arrows that he shoots at us and entices us to shoot at others. The Lord doesn’t mince words in James 3:6 when he tells us about the origin of the sins of the tongue: "The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell." The flames of hell ignite gossip. Satan is behind all gossip, either directly or indirectly. When we listen to gossip, we give the devil a foothold in our lives. When we speak gossip, we’re speaking as Satan wants us to speak. As the old saying goes, "A gossiper is the devil’s postman." We have such good reason to hold our tongue – but we do not do it!

In Luke 6:45 Jesus tells us, A good man produces good out of the good storeroom of his heart. An evil man produces evil out of the evil storeroom, for his mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart. Jesus tells us that our words reveal what is in our hearts. Gossip comes from a heart full of evil. Insults come from a heart full of evil. Criticism comes from a heart full of evil. When we allow our sinful natures to control our hearts, evil fills our souls, and evil spews out of mouths. Think about it – you are a tool of Satan when you are gossiping! Every word that comes from your mouth need to be considered!

In Psalm 109:3 David said of his enemies, They surround me with hateful words and attack me without cause. When we allow hurt, anger, bitterness, and rage to live in our hearts, we entertain thoughts of hatred, retaliation, and revenge. One way that we vent our anger, bitterness, and rage is through gossip. We wound people behind their backs by badmouthing them. We retaliate by shooting people in the back with verbal bullets. Unless we find comfort for our hurt and resolution for our anger, we often vent our hurt and anger with our tongues. How many times has someone hurt you and then you turn around and say something mean or hateful about them in gossip? That needs to stop!

1 Tim 5:13 tells us how idleness can lead to gossip: At the same time, they also learn to be idle, going from house to house; they are not only idle, but are also gossips and busybodies, saying things they shouldn’t say. People with too much time on their hands often become gossips and busybodies. As the saying goes, "Idle hands are the devil’s workshop." If we would spend our time doing things to make a positive difference in the lives of others, we would we giving ourselves less time to be gossiping!

Gossip is always trouble. Gossip obscures the truth. Gossip drives us from God. Gossip ruins reputations. Gossip destroys relationships. Gossip divides churches. The trouble with gossip is that it is incredibly destructive. Do you really understand how destructive gossip is?

Have you ever seen first hand the power of gossip?  What you say to a person who asks: If it is written in the newspaper and I tell someone else – is it gossip?  I was asked that last night.

It was three years ago that I had a normal meeting with my boss and a man who I considered a dear personal friend and he looked at me and said “You have six months to find another job”.  I do not want to go into detail on all of what transpired but I want you to know that there was no moral failure nor any failure on my part at all.  Let me put though into perspective a couple of things.  One is that I had planned to stay at this place for a long time and had many talks with my boss about me being there long term and even a few weeks before this happened.  Another thing is that my wife and I 11 months earlier  bought our first home after 16 years of marriage and it was a dream home for us.  For us before the news – life was going great and when the news came – it seemed like everything came crashing down upon us.

We had the six months hanging over our head and it was a tough thing to deal with.  We had to think about things we were not ready for.  We had to think about contingency plans for if I did not get another job. What were we going to do with a home that we had no equity in that we needed to sell. How were we going to explain this to our young son but even harder our teenage daughter.  There were a lot of blanks to fill in and we did not know how they were going to be filled in.  All my wife and I knew at the time this all went down was that we had God and that we each other to get through it.

You see through it all God provided for us in a mighty way.  It did not always seem like it – there were many sleepless nights and a lot of tears as well as just plain crying out to God.  There was much concern and prayer about what would happen to us and where we would land.  In a situation where someone made a choice that changed our lives God has helped to move us forward.  I am reminded of the quote from the movie Rocky Balboa –“It ain’t about how hard you hit, it is about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, how much can you take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!”  The only way we kept and keep moving forward is and was God and like I said – God provided a ministry and it is awesome.

There is still the house – we tried to sell it and it did not sell.  We then rented it for a year and it ate away all our savings because the rent was less than the mortgage.  Then we tried to short sell after the renters moved out and it the short sale got denied by the mortgage company.  We then did a deed in lieu which is basically giving the house back to the bank.  We thought we were finished with it but then found out the negotiator we were working with at the mortgage company quit and our case had to be completely redone.  During that time we thought it was finished we stopped paying HOA fee – that will make sense in  a moment.  We then find out that we have to go through the whole process again – the house just sitting in a another state!  The mortgage company realizing that they are at fault promised to pay the back HOA fees and fix our credit because we ended up with 11 more month of bad credit due to their error.  Two days before Christmas I get served with papers saying I am being sued by the HOA for the back fees.  The house is now been finally given back the bank but the HOA fees are unpaid and the credit is not fixed.   I spent hours yesterday trying to get it all taken care of and still no resolution.  So I share that with you to say please pray that it all gets taken care of very soon.

I can see in all of it how God has used this terrible situation to grow us.  To strengthen us.  To mold us.  I am blessed to be a part of the church family I am.  I am blessed beyond measure.  There are many positives to this story even though it is and has been a tough thing for us.  Here a few of the positive:  My wife and I were blessed to move to where we are at now and we love it.  We love the church, the people, the community, and to be honest, God has blessed us beyond measure.  We have seen spiritual revival in our own lives and in the church we are serving.   God has weaved a whole lot of good into this terrible situation.  I do not believe that God caused all this – I believe it was the choice of my boss  and simply life -  but I do believe that God is able to take it and use it in my life as well as the lives of others.  God is always good!

Romans 8:28 – And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called  according to His purpose.

What good is God weaving into tough situations in your life?  How can I pray for you?

The book of Proverbs warns all of us – not just the women but also men – of the deadly allure of gossip as well as its deadly effects over and over again. Proverbs 18:8 says, A gossip’s words are like choice food that goes down to one’s innermost being. Whether we admit it or not, we have a fascination with gossip. That’s why talk shows and and things like TMZ are so popular. Proverbs says gossip is like a tasty morsel that we like to savor. Gossip is like a hot fudge sundae or like peach cobbler with whipped cream. Gossip is like steak and lobster.  How is it like these, because we can’t get enough of it. Our society is one that craves gossip. Gossip has been around as long humans and it has been creating problems the whole time.

Here is the thing, not only does Proverbs warn us about having a perverse attraction with gossip. Proverbs also warns us of the corrupting effect of gossip. When we listen to gossip, it goes to our “innermost being.” Gossip sinks its teeth into our hearts, souls, and minds and corrupts us like a fast spreading cancer. It ruins us and others – bit by bit and piece by piece.

Here is a funny thing, we know what gossip is when we hear gossip or when we speak gossip, but we rarely take time to think about gossip. We know that the Bible speaks against it but do we take the time to really look at it and think about it? Do we really ever consider gossip?  Let’s take a some time this week to consider the meaning of gossip and its effect on us and others.

The New Testament Greek word for “gossip” is literally “a whisperer” – a person who whispers behind your back with the intention of hurting you. The Greek scholar Godet describes a gossiper as someone who pours out his poison by whispering in our ears. I love the imagery that is seen in that – someone pouring poison in the ear that will slowly kill and destroy us and others. Today with the telephone, email, Facebook, texts, and all the other possible ways to communicate, we do not even have to whisper behind people’s backs we do it electronically. We just badmouth them over the phone without their knowing, or send emails or text or simply just post something on Facebook. What you have with computers and telephones is the ability to gossip without being behind the person but really shows that there is not a whole lot of whispering that goes on these days but there is whole of damaging gossip happening all the time.

The Bible links gossip and slander together in Proverbs and it also shows up as sister sins so to speak in Roman 1:28-30 which says, And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a worthless mind to do what is morally wrong. They are filled with all unrighteousness, evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents. Now this is quite a list but notice that gossip and slander are linked together in it.

The New Testament word “slander” means “to speak evil of someone.” When we gossip, we speak evil about people; we badmouth them. The King James Version describes people who gossip and slander as “backbiters” which gives a pretty good image of what is happening when gossip and slander are thrown about. When we badmouth someone with gossip, we bite them behind their backs, whether the gossip is true or not. All too often we can be like Dennis the Menace who whispered in Mr. Wilson’s ear, “Now listen good. I can only tell you this once ’cause my Dad told me not to repeat it.”

Do you see gossip as a problem?  Have you ever struggled with gossip?  What is one why that you have seen people try to make their gossip – not sound like gossip?

There is a price to pay for sin and now we will see how God chooses to deal with the children of Israel and their sinfulness and rebellion toward Him as heard in their complaining. 6 The LORD sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.

We see here that in all truth – God killed the complainers. The Lord sent the serpents and He was punishing them for their sinfulness toward Him and Moses. When I look and see the punishment, I see three things.

Divine – Their punishment was definitely from God. You hear of venomous reptiles all through that area they were walking but there is no reference to anyone being bitten till here. The verse tells us that God sent the serpents – these are from God – He is judging their sinful complaining!

Just – They had unjustly complained against God and Moses. Many of them concluded that they should die in the wilderness and God justly gave them what they thought would happen but not the way they thought it would happen. God was just in the punishment He gave.

Severe – The bite of the serpent caused a fiery and intense burning and filled the body with poison which resulted in death. Many died in this painful way because of their complaining.

We need to be so very careful about our complaining. I do not necessarily believe that God will send serpents among us but I do believe that God takes it seriously and he will still bring about chastisement upon those who do it and if you want to see if God does such a thing, read about God chastising in Hebrews 12 of the ones he loves.

What did this punishment bring about? It brought about a change in the peoples thinking and their attitudes. Verse 7 says: So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD and you; intercede with the LORD, that He may remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people.

Punishment came and their attitudes changed and their thinking changed. People are dying because of their sinful attitudes and their complaining. You might not die physically but emotionally many of you have died because of your sinful attitudes and sinful speaking! You need repentance and that is the point that the children of Israel come to here – they come and repent of their sinfulness.

Look at how repentance was brought about in their lives: first Repentance came about by the punishment. – When God began to kill them he got their attention. God will do what it takes to get our attention because He loves us and desires that we repent of our sinful attitudes and ways and turn to him.

Secondly their repentance led them to appeal to Moses for help. Their request had implications. We see that they believed in intercessory prayer – having others pray for you. Then they also realized that effective prayer comes from those who are excellent in character and conduct like Moses was.

Thirdly, Moses prayed to God on their Behalf. He blessed them that complained against him. Look at the type of man that Moses was, he treated with love and respect, those who treated him with disrespect. An example for us all us!

As we pause again and reflect on the last couple of verses do you see any changes you need to make in life? Does God need to bring about fiery serpents in your life to bring you back to him? Do you have the character and conduct that people will come to you for help even after they treated you poorly? Do you have faith in intercessory prayer – are you willing to ask others to pray for you when you are going through a hard time? These are questions that you should be answering with God. Today is the day to make changes if there are changes in your life that need to be made. The way to start is seeking God in prayer and He will answer and begin to help you to change and get away from your complaining ways.

What are your thoughts on all this?  How do you think God deals with complainers these days?

Complaining is not trusting – it is not trusting God, it is not trusting the leader; it is simply and plainly not trusting. When you complain – you are saying to everyone that you are complaining to that you do not trust God or the leader or whoever in the circumstance you are in. That is what the children of Israel are doing here – they are telling God and Moses they do not trust them!

So when you add up a long trip and rough trip and people who are not eating what they want and people who are impatient, well you get the sin that is seen in verse 5, and what exactly is the sin that is seen in verse 5?

There are four different sins that I see here:

Murmuring – or to use the modern day word – they were complaining – They were expressing their discontent with God and Moses. They were complaining about God and how and where he is leading them and about Moses and how he is leading them. Things are not the way that they think they should be so they complain and whine because if God would just do things their way…

Secondly is Unbelief – Imagine the protection that had through all they have been through and now they speaking of dying in the wilderness. God has provided and protected them and they still do not believe God for what he says he will do. This is the sin of the older generation that kept them from the Promised Land and the younger generation has learned from the older and now they are doing it too! Unbelief is not trusting and it is their lack of trust of God and Moses that is being voiced in their complaints.

Thirdly is Ungratefulness – These people whom God has made special provisions for are acting like it is not nearly enough for them at all. Nothing is good enough for them because it is not exactly like what they want. They are finding nothing to be thankful for. Complaining shows a lack of gratitude, so when you complain you are telling others you are not grateful for what God has provided.

Lastly they are voicing Contempt of a Divine Blessing – They were complaining about the Manna that God had graciously provided to keep them alive. You know what Manna means…. What is it …. They named the provision from God what is it. When they say, we loathe this miserable food; they are talking about the manna, their mainstay in the wilderness. If we judged what manna was like by their comments, we would not be too excited about eating either, but the Psalmist calls it "bread of angels" – Psalm 78:24-25 And He rained down manna upon them to eat, And gave them food from heaven. Man did eat the bread of angels; He sent them food in abundance. They didn’t go hungry, they had an abundance of Manna or bread of angels but the problem was not good enough for them – they thought they deserved a whole lot better. Complaining shows contempt for God and others as seen right here.

In a sense if you put the four sins together – the complaining, unbelief, ungratefulness, and the contempt and you will get the sin of rebellion. Let us stop here a minute and think about this; you have a group of people who are murmuring against God, not believing God, ungrateful for what God has provided, and who are speaking contempt for how God has provided. We think how terrible this is but the reality is that this sounds like us at times.

We go through our everyday lives and problems and we allow ourselves to get bogged down by them. The circumstances of life get us down and we become impatient and/or discouraged. This then leads us to begin to complain about God, or his servants, or his provisions. We then begin to think that God is going to just let us die in the wilderness of our life. We end up forgetting all that God has brought us through. We have no gratitude for any of the blessings of our lives, as a matter of fact we do not think that we have any blessings from God in our lives – everything is bad. Then we begin to complain about the ways and the work of God all the time to anyone and everyone. What has happened is that we have gotten caught in the trap of STINKIN THINKIN. We look at what the circumstances of life are like around us rather than fix our eyes on the Lord. That is what has happened to the children of Israel – their eyes are on everything but God. The writer of Hebrews tells us we are to fix our eyes on Christ – the author and finisher of our faith. Where are your eyes today? Are they on everything else but Christ or are they on Christ? Where your eyes are, it makes all the difference in if you are complaining or not complaining.

What do you think – is complaining partly not trusting?  Any thought on the four sins?  What are your thoughts on all this?

4 Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient because of the journey. 5 The people spoke against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food.”

The people are complaining – they just won a great battle and should be rejoicing but they are not – they are complaining. Why are they complaining? Well, because this is not the direction that the people wanted to go and because this was not the fastest way to get where they were going. The fastest way would have been from them to travel down through Edom. The problem with that was that the King of Edom did not want them to travel through his land. That meant that they had to travel around the Land of Edom which meant they were going to make a big half circle to get to where they wanted to be.

They had more reason than that to complain because now the journey was going to be a rough one through a hard land. It was a low laying desert plain made it a very rough journey. It would of had very loose sand with drifts of granite and other stones throughout which would have made walking through it very difficult and the to go with that there are many bad sand storms that come off the Red Sea. It was a difficult journey!

Now you have to add in to this that because of the roughness of where they were traveling there was also very little in the way of food and water like they had in other parts of the trip. What that means is that now more than ever they were almost completely dependent on Manna. Manna is bread from God that He would provide for them six out of seven days so that they always had something to eat. It was God providing for them in a very real way.

When you add this all up, you have a group of people who were as the Bible tells us were getting impatient. This trip is going to be harder and it is going to take longer than they expected and that leads them right into their impatience and impatience almost always leads to complaining.

When we get impatient, trouble’s right around the corner. One of the signs of spiritual maturity is patience. It’s part of growing up. The older we get the more patient we should become – little kids constantly ask “are we there yet” showing their impatience and immaturity but the older they get the less they ask “are we there yet” showing they are becoming mature.

Now this is true in everyday life, but in the spiritual life many people struggle with being impatient. They want others and themselves to be spiritually mature now! Patience is a fruit of the Spirit and so spiritual maturity is not going to happen overnight! It is a lifetime process – we need to be patient.

Not only that but impatience is not what God shows us, think about how the Bible says over and over to "wait on the Lord" – think about how many times in the Psalms you read the line “wait on the Lord”. Why is this? It is because God wants us to slow down and grow and go at His pace, not ours. If we move too fast we miss all the lessons along the way that we need to learn that will help us to keep moving forward on down the line. If we do not learn the lesson – we will bog down. This is the problem; people do not learn the lessons and bog down.

With an honest look we can see that the children of Israel probably had a reason to be frustrated because it was a difficult trip but their reason would not be a good one – just because something is difficult or not the way we would want it to be does not mean that God cannot work through it. Because something is hard or not the way we do thing does not give us a reason or the right to complain. They faced a real challenge and something that was no fun at all. Yet, they had no excuse for not trusting in God, and for not looking for His victory through it all.

Some questions for you to ponder:  Do you find yourself complaining?  Do you find yourself being impatient?  Do you find yourself not waiting on the Lord?

What is the one thing you complain about the most?  Do you have any other thoughts on this?

Pluck, Not Luck! – – by Bill Mansell

James was born in 1875 on a small farm in Missouri, the seventh of twelve children in a poor family. His father was a minister, and the children were taught hard work, honesty, self-reliance, and discipline. Although he worked hard on the farm, and studied in school, James had every reason to believe that his opportunities were limited. When he was 20, his father died and James began working as a salesman at the local dry goods store in Hamilton. Times were difficult and the other salesmen were often cruel to him. But he persevered.

When he was 22, James moved to Denver where he purchased a butcher shop. He was determined to treat each customer fairly. When he refused to give special treatment to a powerful few, they retaliated and his business failed. Undeterred, he went to work at another dry goods store, called the Golden Rule store. Soon he was a partner and, in 1902, opened his own Golden Rule store in Wyoming. It was a small, one-room store with the family’s living quarters in the attic. James offered fair prices and great service to everyone, which made the store successful. In 10 years, there were thirty-four Golden Rule stores throughout the west.

Personal tragedy struck James in 1910 when his wife died of pneumonia, leaving him with two sons. At the time, he wrote that his "world crashed" around him. He married again 9 years later, only to have his second wife pass away after only four years, leaving him with another son. In spite of these personal setbacks, James was determined to carry on.

James bought out his partners and renamed the Golden Rule stores after himself. He hired and trained "associates" whom he developed into successful manager-partners. Each manager, was to then find another honest, hardworking person and train them to manage another store. Using this formula, the company thrived. By 1924, there were 500 stores, and by 1929, 1400 JC Penneys stores were in operation.

The stock market crash of 1929 left James in personal financial ruin, but he was determined to keep his stores alive. He borrowed against his life insurance policies to help the company meet payroll and successfully survive the great depression. In 1946, with his business on solid footing, James retired from day-to-day management of the company, but continued to be active and involved, going to his office daily until well into his 90′s.

At the age of 92, James was asked by a newspaper reporter the secret to his success. "I don’t believe in luck," he said, "Put a P in front of it!" Pluck means living with courage and resolution. It means refusing to give up. It means believing in yourself and your vision in spite of opposition or adversity. "My eyesight is impaired…" he continued, "but my vision is stronger than ever."

Success Tip: Next time you feel that adversity has beaten you down, think of James Cash Penney. Don’t worry about luck, just put a P in front of it and forge ahead.

I did not know this story about JC Penny and it got me thinking.  Sometimes we want to give up or give in.  Sometimes things happen and we feel like it is going to crush us and we want to quit.  When I read this and all I could think about is perseverance.  We need to be a people who preserver through life!

Meditate on this today: ³ Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:3-5).

What are your thoughts on the story?  How are you with perseverance?  By the way – Pluck really does mean to live with courage and resolution.

(I am out at a conference today – I will respond at some point.)

I had the opportunity yesterday to minister at a  Nursing Home. I have done it at this particular place about 5 times since I moved to this area.  I have loved doing it in the past because I got to do it with my wife but this time around she had another obligation and was unable to go with me.  My wife has a voice like a songbird and I have a voice like a Screech owl, so normally went it come to the music, she would lead and I would preach.  This time I had to lead singing and normally a lady from the church who has a daughter at home and she plays the piano but this time I had a new lady do it.  She turned the piano away from the wall and play loud for which I was very thankful!  There were about 35 residents from the home in the room and most of them were in wheel chairs.  It was sad because some could not talk, others had limbs that did not work or were not there, and still others you could tell had mental health issues.  It was in many ways it was the same sad picture that I have seen before as I got ready to start the service.

Then it happened – it went from a sad picture to something unexpected (even though I have been through this before with them) – I started off with a moment of prayer and then we began singing a hymns.  It was wonderful because the residents really sang out!  This the loudest and best they sounded in my times going there.  Even with being the best they sounded, when the residents sang out this time as in times past the did it with grunts, groans, and some melodic voices.  We sang a couple of more hymns and between the hymns I scurried around the room to make sure they all had the right page number.  The neat this is that for some of them, it did not matter what they page number was because just sang from memory and never looked  at the hymnal.  As we sang, you could hear by their voices but more than that, by the looks on their faces, these songs we were singing really meant something to them.  You could hear their passion and more than that you could see their passion as they sang.  Their grunts, groans, and mumbles as well as the melodic voices were raised in praise to Christ.  They did not care how they sounded to others so they sang and sang out.  They sounded beautiful to me and I know they sounded awesome to God..

It is such a beautiful thing to see and hear those who look so broken physically and sound broken just raise their voices and grunts and groans in worship God.  They were worshipping with all that was in them and it was awesome.  All of this has reminded me again of this verse::

Psalm 100:1 –  Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands

I believe that more than making a joyful noise they were worshiping – truly worshiping.  The were broken, contorted, and some not all there mentally but they were truly worshiping the King of Kings with their grunts, groans, mumbles, and melodic voices.  If they can do that  – what is wrong with us?  Why do we hold back?

How is your singing voice?   Do you make a joyful noise and sing with everything you have?

There was a  young man who suffered from a skin disease and he was standing at the end of the register bagging groceries like he did every day when two females come through getting groceries. The one begins to stare at him and then whispers loud enough for him to hear, “What is wrong with his face”. The other looked embarrassed just smiles uncomfortably. This man still remembers these powerful words till this day.

This week, I have posted about the power of words.  The power of positive words which are kind and encouraging.  The power of negative words as heard in people with “potty mouths”, gossip, and slander.  The power of the powerful phrases like “Thank You”, “I am sorry”, and “I Forgive you”.  I hope that  in this post and in those other posts you have seen and understood the power of words – both in a positive way and a negative way.

Back to the opening line – “What’s wrong with his face?”

That line was said to me when I was in college.  I am the one with skin disease (sever cystic acne)  which caused a lot of scaring on my face.  I was the bagger at the end of the register bagging groceries the day the mother and her little girl came through the line. I know that the little girl was not trying to hurt me by asking her mother what was wrong with my face. I want you to know it has been over 20 years since this happened and I still remember it like it was yesterday. You know what this shows to me?  This shows the power of words.

Here is the thing; I have not allowed the innocent words of that little girl 20 years ago ruin or run my life. I must admit when it first happened I was bothered by the words she said because they were powerful.  Now what this has done for me is this:  it has served as a good reminder for me of words have power. If the innocent words of a little girl over 20 years ago can stick in my mind like this then I need to think hard about the words I say everyday. Think about the negative things that we say everyday and what that does to people? Then again, what about the encouraging words that you and I say each day?  Words are powerful – we need to be so careful with them.

Let us be people who leave then negative words behind and choose the powerful words that are positive to make a difference in this life. Tell others today – thank you, I am sorry, I am proud of you, I believe in you, I love you, I forgive you, Forgive me, You Matter, You are precious to me, You are beautiful, and I’ll fight with you . Use kind and encouraging words – these will make your life and the lives of others better!   If we do this, it will help us to show others Christ in a real way!

What are the most powerful words ever spoken to you?

What are these words and phrases that we need to make sure we use each day?

The first is: Thank You – There is something that motivates people when they hear a simple thank you. The apostle Paul was always thanking people in his letters. Thank you holds power and provides others with the energy to continue on. Make sure you always say Thank You.

I am Sorry – When someone gives a genuine I am sorry it gives energy. When we make mistakes and we all will and do, we need to say these three words – I am sorry. When we use this phrase we encourage others to do the same when they make a mistake or do something wrong. If you are too proud to say you are sorry you will or will have raised kids who most likely will be too proud to do the same. Make sure you always say you are sorry when you have done something wrong because it is empowering to you and the other person.

I am Proud of You – To hear the words “I am Proud of You” is an energizing thing. I want you to remember that God was proud of his Son, He said, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. God let Jesus know he was proud of him and we need to do the same and let others know we are proud of them! We need to be using this phrase often – I am proud of you.

I Believe in you – when I hear I Believe in you said to me really gives me energy and it has motivated me to do things I never thought possible! To know others believe I can do something is a wonderful gift and a better gift is to know that God believes I can. Tell others you believe in them and so does God!

I Love you – There is something special about hearing these words and knowing that the person truly means it. When God sent Jesus to die for us that was him saying to the world “I love you”. To hear these words from my wife, daughter, son, and others is very energizing. When you love someone you have got to let them know. Jesus has told us – now we need to tell it to others – I love you.

These are Powerful Words and Phrases and to not use these is destructive. We are a people who need to use these powerful words because they make a difference. There is one more powerful phrase I would like to share with you.

I Forgive You – I forgive you is to me the three most powerful words. We should use these words often. There are words all throughout the Bible that are written in red, these are the most powerful words, they are the words of Jesus. It is our job as men and women who have been changed by the power of Jesus to share these powerful words with others. The most powerful thing that Jesus says to us is that we are forgiven. Do you get that today? God has forgiven us and now we need to forgive others! I forgive you needs to be said and meant!

What are your thoughts?  Is there another phrase that you would add to this list?