by Pastor Linda Skinner
“Kind words are like honey—sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.” Proverbs 16:24
I thank God every day for the start I had in life. Parents who were loving, kind and had a great sense of humor. Don’t get me wrong, they weren’t perfect, but there was never a doubt in my mind that I was loved and cherished by them both.
Before I was even out of the womb, my mother wrote a little lullaby that she sang to me. I can’t remember those times, of course, but I do know that somewhere deep in my brain these words were planted. The lullaby ending with this phrase…”God sent us down a little bud for our family tree, we took her and we loved her and we called her Linda Lea.” (Now mom always pronounced Lea as Lee. Lee was one of my brother’s name, so she wanted mine to be more feminine, so she spelled it with an “a.”) Even today when I type those words, it brings tears to my eyes and gives me a warm feeling all over.
Contrasting this to the life of a very dear person in my life, who I will call Frank for sake of anonymity. Frank grew up in a household where all he heard from his parents is about how he was the reason for their miserable life. Many times, he was told that they really didn’t want children and that he was a “big mistake.” Now, I never met Frank’s parents, so I could not tell you if that is how they really felt. All I know is that the words that Frank heard were that he was not wanted or loved. Frank was a wonderful man and he tried to hard to become more positive. He had a huge collection of Washington Cathedral Power Capsules and he would read through those several times a week trying to let the “words” about the love of God sink into his soul. I know Frank is in heaven now and our Savior has erased all those bad words spoken into his life, but on this earth he was never able to fully overcome the words that were spoken over him as a child.
Our words are important and, left to our own devices, they can become daggers rather than encouragement or instruments of peace. I pray every morning that my words will be for good and not for evil as James speaks to in James 3.
This week Pastor Ron Wilbur will be teaching from James 3. I am looking forward to what God has to say to me through Ron’s message. Join us for online worship at 10:30 on Sunday morning – Facebook Live, YouTube Live, www.wacathedral.org or our Wacath App (IOS, Android, Amazon).
Blessings on your day,
Pastor Linda