May 30, 2022

Our thoughts can either get us into trouble or elevate us above our problems. Too often, however, we allow our minds to linger over and ponder the wrong kind of thoughts. The thoughts on which we dwell will eventually come out in our words. If our words are good and uplifting, they encourage others and us.

Those thoughts aren’t just about others - they are also about how we reflect on ourselves, as well. One of the smartest friends I had in school confessed one day that she felt intellectually inferior. Her words shocked me, and I told her so. I learned that her father used to call her stupid when she didn’t grasp something the first time he explained it to her. Eventually, her own thoughts said to her, “You aren’t intelligent enough to understand this.”

That’s a good example of how our words can tear down others. But we can also uplift others with our words by focusing on the good we see in people and tell them.

Everyone needs to hear pleasant and healing words. It’s too easy to assume certain people don’t have the same struggles that we experience. All of us struggle. We can help each other when we sincerely speak pleasant words that build up one another. We need to build up others as much as we need others to encourage us.

I can remember times when I’ve wanted to say a kind word to someone, and I would think, “Oh, she knows that. She’s heard that before.” Then I would say to myself, “Yes, maybe she knows, and perhaps she’s heard it before, but she hasn’t heard it from me.”

What if each of us decided to use our words to strengthen and build up the people in our lives? I learned long ago that it takes so little to do so much good - often it’s a simple word of encouragement, a hug, or just saying the words, “I care.”

-Adapted by Joyce Meyer