THE POWER OF THE SPOKEN WORD

By Sam Akhigbe Words are powerful, they are either creative or destructive. Once wrongly spoken, they can never be retrieved. At best you can only say I'm sorry but the impart will linger on with the person you have spoken to or spoken about. Only time can erase the memory of the word that is wrongly spoken. If you wish to know the mind of a man, listen to his words. The bible says, “out of abundance of the heart mouth speaketh. “ Your words define who you are. King Solomon said “Seeth thou a man that is hasty in his words ? there is more hope of a fool than of him (Proverb 29:20). The trouble with words are, whenever you speak, your words are felt either positively or negatively and they can not be taken back. Words also can put your credibility at stake. Now here is the point: Careless words can stir up dissension, but words kindly spoken could bring healing to a wounded soul. How does words affect your listeners? A lot of people are carrying wounds that you cannot see, a kind word could make a world of difference. In Eph 4:29 the bible says, ‘Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying that it may minister grace to the hearers.’ This habit may not be natural with every body, but with conscious effort it can be cultivated over time. This might surprise you. Godly character is not a gift from God, but the natural result of a conscious and a persistence effort in right thinking. What do you feed your mind with...? If you focus more on the good side of people it becomes easy for you to appreciate them without flattering. When you speak the right word to people always, what you get back is respect, therefore speak words that will leave people better off than you met them. -Sam Akhigbe