A Word Will Do...
Posted by Terry Dashner on: 2005-08-12 18:28:42
Terry Dashner………Faith Fellowship Church PO Box 1586 Broken Arrow, OK 74013
Have you ever been offended by another person’s derogatory speech? Have you ever been terrified by a person’s threats to do you harm? Isn’t it amazing how powerful human speech can be?
Yet a word is nothing more than an audible sound that falls upon our ears; however, when words are given context and meaning, they can do one of two things. For one, the words can offend, discourage, or instill fear. On the other hand, words can be very positive and stimulating.
It’s a fact that spoken words and even written words can impact lives. I remember an old story about Oliver Wendell Holmes. The story relates a bitter irony associated with printed texts. Holmes found one of his patients reading up on disease. “Careful!” warned Holmes. “Some day you may die of a misprint.”
In today’s world, a torrent of words pours from the printing press, radio, television, and from every political platform and every soap box. Words move people to buy, sell, hate, and love. They can depress, distort, discourage, and deceive, poisoning the very springs of life. That’s why we need to be careful about what we hear and what we say.
But words can also create new thoughts and arouse courage, faith, and love. Such words are a great power for good. An unexpected word of kindness can change a life and set it on its feet again. A lovely girl in perplexity and trouble discovered that. A little six-year-old boy said to her, “I think you’re as beautiful as a fairy princess.” She was first embarrassed, then flattered, but finally lifted up out of her mood of depression. A proverb says, “Good advice may fall on barren ground, but a kind word is never thrown away.”
Just a word for thought…
Keep the faith. Stay the course. Jesus is coming soon. He has given us His word!
Pastor T.
About the Author
Pastors a small church in Broken Arrow, OK. U.S. Navy veteran of the Viet Nam era (Hospital Corpsman), retired from the City of Tulsa police department, father of three grown children, and grandfather to two grandchildren.