The Power of Words

 A woman went to the village priest with a troubled conscience. She said, "I have circulated a nasty story about a friend only to find the story is not true. What shall I do to make good the awful deed?

"If you would make peace with your conscience you must fill a bag with goose down, go to every door in the village and drop one fluffy down," replied the priest.  The woman did as she was told. Then she came back to the priest and said she had done her penance for her folly.

"Not yet," replied the priest. "Take the bag and go the rounds again and gather every feather that you have dropped."

"But the wind will have blown them all away," she protested, "they will be picked up by little children, trodden under foot of man, I'll never get them all back!"

"Yes, and so it is with your vile words. Words and the goose down are quickly dropped, but try as hard as you will, you can never get them all back again."

"If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless." (James 1:26, NLT)

Its hard to live when nobody cares if you die

A high school student in the USA committed suicide.  He left a note saying, "It's hard to live when nobody cares if you die." 

 His classmates were badly shaken by this traumatic event.  Realizing the opportunity to help these young people through this troubling time, a teacher talked to the students about how important it is that people feel valued. So, he told them to imagine they were about to die. Then he gave an assignment: "Write a note to tell someone how important he or she is to you."

Sandy, who had a rocky relationship with her mother, was especially moved by the idea that she might die without telling her mom how important she was, so she wrote a note: "We've had some rough times and I know I haven't been a very good daughter but I know I'm lucky to have you in my life. You  are the best person I've ever known. Thanks for not giving up on me."

 

 She told her mom about the assignment and gave her the note. Her mom cried and hugged Sandy but said little. The next morning Sandy found a note on her mirror. "Dearest daughter," it said, "I want you to know how much you are valued. Being your mother is the most important thing in my life. The truth is I've felt like such a failure I was seriously considering ending it all. I thought you'd be better off without me. Your appreciation makes my life worth living."

"Let us think of ways to motivate and encourage one another to acts of love and good works." (Hebrews 10:24, NLT)