Miraculous Freedom

“You’re not doing anything right.” He laughs as if he told a joke, not just crushed my spirit. I abandon the parallel parking spot in silence, opting for a regular one — much further from my dorm but also much less likely to evoke criticism. 

I’d never claimed to be the best car parker in the world, and his comment wasn’t anything about my character or personality, but that remark – You’re not doing anything right – stung. It did nothing to build me up; in fact, it made me GIVE up. 

Even though I knew it wasn’t true, in that moment, it felt true. And 15 years later, although I have no bitterness or hurt from that situation anymore, I remember it vividly. 

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“You’re doing amazing.” He smiles proudly. What did he just say? I search his eyes and find sincerity. Immediately, my spirits are lifted, and I can’t help but smile back. 

The first few times I received encouragement like this from my then-boyfriend, now husband, it was jarring. More than once, I wondered, “Does he actually think I’m doing an amazing job, or is he just trying to make me feel better?” The more consistently I’ve been encouraged like this, though, the easier it has become to accept and truly believe his words. They’re no longer met with skepticism; instead, they’re free to accomplish their purpose of building me up. 

These two vastly different incidents illustrate the same truth: our words have power.

Let’s do a little experiment so you can see for yourself. Do you feel a difference in your body after reading each of these sentences?

You’re not doing anything right. 

You’re doing amazing. 

For me, my chest tightens a little after reading the first sentence. Anxiety begins to rise. But after I read the second one, I feel lighter. My face relaxes. Hope rises instead of anxiety. Peace and joy join me rather than defeat and heaviness.

These are the effects of words of encouragement, or “pleasant words,” as they’re called in Proverbs 16:24. They affect two distinct parts of us: our souls and our bodies. 

I’m assuming everyone reading this has tasted honey, and if you haven’t, you know it’s sweet, so reading that pleasant words are “sweet to the soul” isn’t much of a surprise.

I, for one, am well acquainted with the taste. Since my husband is a beekeeper, honey is the sweetener of choice in our house. We use it on pancakes instead of syrup, I use it in homemade granola, yogurt, protein balls, smoothies, glazes for fish, and if somebody has a sore throat, you better believe we’re adding it to our ginger tea. Let’s just say, we probably use it on more than we should and probably use more OF it than we should!

Besides being sweet and bringing us happiness, though, honey brings actual health benefits to our bodies. It reduces coughs, heals burns and wounds, and can even be good for our physical hearts!

Just as honey is “good for” our bodies, so are pleasant words. Like Proverbs 16:24 says, they are “health to the bones”. “Health” here is the Hebrew word marpē’, and is defined by Strong’s as a medicine or a cure. That means pleasant words are like medicine or even a cure to us! While honey heals coughs, burns, and physical wounds, pleasant words heal spiritual and emotional wounds. Simply put, pleasant words are healing.

When we stop and think about the power our words hold, it compels us to use them carefully. And my prayer is that it also frees us to be generous with our words. Now that we know the healing power they hold, we can intentionally look for ways to build others up and tell them they’re “doing amazing.”

Let’s purpose in our hearts today to use our words to bless others. Let’s use pleasant words like my household uses honey — on anything and everything!

Pursuing freedom with you,

Charlsie

Learn more about this topic on Episode 003 of the Miraculous Freedom Podcast!