The Power of Words

Along with naming your child and carrying an uplifting vision for their future we have to lay the ground work with the words that we speak. Teachable parenting means cultivating a loving and respectful environment in our homes and it is made manifest through the things we say. Words are powerful. We know this right? Proverbs 18:21  says that the power of Life and death are in the tongue.  Ephesians 4:29, Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only that which is good for building up others according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Or Matthew 15:18 What comes from the mouth proceeds from the heart and defiles a man. 

Back to quoting Danny Silk from Loving Our Kids on Purpose he says “ Our job is to create a steady steam of life-giving words into our children’s lives. When we learn to look at our children and see their potential and destinies in God, and learn to release the power of life through our words we become a channel for God to broadcast his heart and His grace to them.”  I love the example he gives when his son was in 2^nd grade (probably around the same age as my son) and he was getting into some trouble at school (kind of like my son has) and the school called the mother about the issue. I am sure she was ready to tear into him, but before she went to pick him up she said to herself  Here we go. My words are spirit and life. I carry vision for my son. I carry it in my heart. I carry what it is that I want him to have and when she addressed him that day she did so without attacking him with harsh words. I don't want to over spiritualize this topic and make it sound like our words carry that much weight, but well, it's in the Bible so I don't know how else to present it. Our words have impact.  

Sometimes it can be a struggle when you see your children misbehaving not to call them names like “bad boy” “brat” or “selfish”. Teachable Parenting holds kids responsible for their actions, but what they do as children does not define who God says that they are. The book Wild Things suggests naming the behavior instead. You do this by saying things like “that’s destructive” or “talking that way is disrespectful”. It communicates  in a way that is short firm, and measured rather than belittling or personally attacking.  I don’t want to bombard my children with words that accuse them of being bad because if they hear it enough they are going to believe that is what they are. Again, this excerpt from Wild Things is geared to boys, but I think you will quickly see how it can be adapted to apply to girls as well. “By disciplining boys in ways that do not shame them, we honor their desire for strength, reinforce their sensitivity, and encourage them toward valor. If our boys are to stand a fair chance at life, they need to enter manhood believing that they are good men. If they don’t, they will be staring out behind the eight ball."

So anyway, I am feeling convicted! Today my challenge is to cover my children with words that strengthen, encourage and change the atmosphere! I’m ready for a change.

 This is day 28 of a 31 day series. For the rest of Teachable Parenting click HERE.