Do you want your children to prosper? Watch your words

“You are such a naughty and rebellious girl! You’ll never be successful with your attitude.”

“My boy doesn’t have any patience. He is too emotional. Like mother, like son.”

Our tongue may be small, but it can cause great harm. 

I believe the words we use have the power to give life, and the power to take it away. 

It might seem radical, but what if it was really true? Every word spoken to our children has an impact on how they view themselves. But not only that. It also has an impact on the future?

How much more careful, self-controlled and mindful would we be with our words if we knew their weight and impact on others? How much more if we knew, that in the end, we had to give account for every careless word we ever spoke (or typed)?

In one moment we say things that build up, encourage or comfort. We speak hope-filled and life-giving words, but in the very next moment we say things that discourage, hurt and break hearts. How easily can our tongue become a weapon of destruction. 

When our children are still young, they don’t quite know yet who they are. I dare to say that we as adults even forget who we are sometimes, or maybe we have never had anybody tell us who we really were and what we were made to accomplish in this life? 

Embrace what God speaks to you. Your heart will be transformed. So will your words. For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. (Luke 6:45)

What is our heart filled with?

I believe that it is our job as parents to remind our kids of who they are.

Imagine every word we say about our children is a sticker we place on them? It is a sticker that describes their person, appearance, character, heart, their purpose, future, their life. Each sticker adds a piece of identity and a belief system of who they think they are. 

What do we want each sticker to say when our child takes them off and reads them?

What do our children see and feel when they look in the mirror? It very much depends on what we say to them and speak over them in their presence.

Our words are like seeds. What we think and speak falls on heart’s ground. The more we dwell on them, the more it will take root and grow. 

The question is, what do we want our words to become?

Where we might see the bad, God sees the good. Where we call a situation hopeless, He sees an opportunity. 

Let’s choose to build up, not tear down, to encourage, not discourage!

When I bring my girls to bed at night, I let them know how beautifully and wonderfully made they are, how loved and enough they are. I want their belief and root system to be healthy and strong so they don’t fall for the lies of the world easily.

My prayer is that we become like a sponge towards the Word of God, so saturated with the truth of God about ourselves and our children that we can stand steadfast on the only foundation that doesn’t move and shake. May our hearts and minds be fixed on what is true and good. And may we be aware of the power that is on our tongue and open our mouth with wisdom and kindness to speak truth over our children so they can face a bright future.