Words Make a Difference
by Rollie J.
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I recently received this powerful email from one of First Lutheran’s faithful. She is a woman I have always respected, admired, and enjoyed for her positivity, faith, and attitude in life. I share this with her permission.
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 Hi Rollie,
…A few weeks back in your sermon you made a challenge to handwrite a message/letter to people in our lives to bless them with our words of appreciation and affirmation. I accepted the challenge!!
One of the people I wrote to was, my Auntie Doris. I call her often and text her more frequently. However, a handwritten letter is one of her favorite things in the world. So, I wrote her a long letter. This aunt has been one of the top two people in my life for the way to live a faith-filled, positive life. My mother died when I was 7 years old. My aunt took me and my 4 siblings under her wings to guide us and protect us unconditionally for the rest of our lives. She had 4 children of her own. They were our “brothers and sister.”
My aunt lost her husband (my mom’s brother) when he was only 44. All 3 of her sons also died young. Of course, this was such a devastating fact of her life (and mine). She stood fast to her faith and caring for others who suffered traumatic events. Anyway, I wrote her a long letter letting her know what she meant to me.
My Aunt Doris passed-away 2 weeks ago due to ALS and COVID. I am grateful that she is pain-free and dancing in Heaven with so many.
I am very grateful that you put up that challenge to write a physical letter and bless someone. I may have procrastinated that letter for a long time and missed out on the comfort of knowing that I got to give her the gift of my words. Thank you!
Carole Shallow
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Thank you, Carole, for sharing this with all of us. Thank you also for listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit nudging you from within to write those words. Thank you for not procrastinating. For not putting off what was good and Godly to do that day.
Our tongue, our brain, our words are just tools. Just as a hammer, a flame, a computer, a phone, or a pen. They are all just neutral tools. They can be used to break down, injure, hurt, and destroy or they can be used to heal, to build up, to bless, or to encourage. A big chunk of our world spends most of their lives doing nothing with these tools good or bad. They just float through life having no impact positive or negative. And it seems that we are in a tumultuous time of history where many others mostly bash, teardown, belittle, rage, hurt, injure, whine, complain, and destroy with their words. It is rare indeed to find the small percentage of folks who take our Christlike calling to bless others through our words.
You and I have been blessed, to be a blessing. We can do that with our time, our money, and our possessions, but one of the most practical, simple, and most effective ways that we can bless others is through our words both written and spoken. You may think the world of someone, you may believe they stand for excellence, you may have a strong admiration for one of their qualities or positive attributes, you may have witnessed them perform a superb act or seen them do incredible work, you may have seen them perform heroically under pressure, you may have felt a positive mark and impact on your life from them … but if those words remain silently stored in your head… then you have wasted an opportunity to be a blessing. And they have missed out on an incredible blessing that maybe only you can bestow upon them. Thinking an affirmation, kind word, or a blessing does NOT COUNT! Thinking it does no one any good. You must act with courage to speak out loud or on paper your truth! One kind word can change someone's entire day. Your words have power. Speak words that are kind, loving, positive, uplifting, encouraging, and life-giving!
May YOU be the one who makes a positive difference in the lives of others today! Who might God be nudging you to bless with your words today? Whose soul might you touch with compassion today? May you pay attention to the gentle and quiet calling of the Holy Spirit within you!
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-- Rollie J.
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"Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless."
-Mother Teresa
Praise only works with three types of people: men, women, and children.
"If we understood the power of our thoughts, we would guard them more closely. If we understood the awesome power of our words, we would prefer silence to almost anything negative. In our thoughts and words, we create our own weaknesses and our own strengths. Our limitations and joys begin in our hearts. We can always replace negative with positive."
-Betty Eadie
Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- Think about such things!
Philippians 4
Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
1 Thessalonians 5:11
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
Ephesians 4:9
Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.
Leo Buscaglia
The biggest secret of dealing with people:
Give honest and sincere appreciation.
Dale Carnegie
Let us spur on one another towards love and good deeds.
Let us encourage one another.
Hebrews 1-:24-25
Be careful who you listen to!
It all starts with words.
Words make our thoughts.
Thoughts build our beliefs.
Beliefs guide how we act.
