| Good morning everyone, Our theme for this month: “Fully Alive” Our Bible verse for today: “The tongue that heals is a tree of life, but a devious tongue breaks the spirit.” Proverbs 15:4 “Pleasant words are a honeycomb: sweet to the taste and health to the body.” Proverbs 16:24 (CSB) Our thought for today: “Help to heal the wounded heart” I read a statement the other day which was made by a person with both mental and physical disabilities and who had spent a lifetime being ridiculed and bullied because of it. She was speaking to a class of elementary school students and she was explaining how hurtful the name “retard” can be to someone who struggles with mental limitations. She said “If you hurt my arm or leg, it heals fast, but when you hurt my heart, it can last forever.” Wise words, and very true. The psychological wounds are often the deepest and longest lasting. Psychological wounds are most often inflicted by words, and the thing about words is that once they’re spoken, they cannot be unspoken. They can be forgiven, but they can’t be forgotten. Once they have been spoken and heard, they’re in the person’s memory bank and they will stay there forever. If they were mean words, cruel words, hurtful words, they inflict a wound on the heart that can last a lifetime. But words can also be healing. Words of kindness, love, and encouragement can help to heal the wounded heart. And that’s where you, Christian, come in. You can speak words of hope and healing to hurting people suffering from wounded hearts. You can be a source of kindness and encouragement to someone who may be silently suffering. Much of our focus during this month of devotional messages about being “fully alive” have focused on serving others. And much of the service we’ve discussed involved doing things and taking actions like humanitarian relief. But one of the most helpful things any of us can do for people is simply to be kind and encouraging in the way we speak to them. One of my favorite characters in the New Testament is Barnabas, “The son of encouragement”. Barnabas was known for being a source of encouragement to others. Evidently, he helped to heal wounded hearts. Yesterday I said that when you bless others, you yourself are blessed. That truth holds true in this case as well. When you encourage others, you yourself will be encouraged. When you help to heal their heart, you will find your own heart has been lifted up as well. Today there will be people with wounded hearts all around you. You can be a blessing to them, if you only will. God Bless, Pastor Jim |
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