I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: WORDS ARE POWERFUL.
Your words communicate what you believe,
and what you believe directly affects the outcome of your day…..your life.
I recently was invited to speak at a youth meeting to share about missions and what I see God doing around the
globe. Prior to my time to share with the students, we played some games in agym. One of the games was a basketball relay with two teams competing to make lay-ups one-by-one until the whole team finished. I was asked to play to even out teams. As my team lined up one of the students who had been sitting on the sidelines by himself, decided to join in. He was kind of hesitant, but said he wanted to play, however when the time came for his turn he didn’t want to go.
Somewhere in there I introduced myself and asked his name. (I will call him Tommy here, although that is not his real name). I then proceeded to remind him that he came over because he wanted to play, so I encouraged him to take his turn. He was still reluctant and the time came for me to take my turn, so I left him at his end of the court.
The time came for Tommy to take his turn. He began shooting to make his lay-ups, and to be honest he was struggling to make them. He was the last player for our team, and he could lead us to victory. As he struggled at the other end of the court I began cheering him on, “Come on Tommy, you can do it!” “Nice try, keep it up!” “You’re doing great!” Eventually Tommy made all of his lay-ups, and our team did win. Yay! When he got to our end of the court, and made his final bucket I gave Tommy a high five and said, “See! You said you could do it, and you did! I knew you could!”
So, you’re may thinking, “So, you encouraged a kid in a lay-up game. What’s the big deal?” Originally I also had NO idea how powerful those words of encouragement were. Until:
#1: Tommy later addressed me by my name….indicating to me that he was absolutely listening when I introduced myself. (He even corrected others when they introduced me incorrectly!)
#2: He asked me if I was going to be around after the meeting to shoot hoops with him.
Basically Tommy became my new best friend for the evening….all because I loved him enough to say a few encouraging words which not only led our team to victory, but more importantly led him to joy and a new friend. Who knows what would’ve happened had I kept my mouth silent.
Thank you God for the ability to speak life to those around me! Give me wisdom to recognize when to say what and when to shut up! COME ON JESUS!!!!
