Speak Life

"What you say flows from what is in your heart." 

This sentence is at the end of Luke 6:45. 

I've read it many times before. 

But as I read through it last week, it hit me like a ton of bricks. 

And ironically enough, it came after an interesting situation at school.

I have a zero tolerance policy for bullies.

I had a conversation with two students last week. These boys are good friends, but due to reasons I never fully understood on the day in question, ended up in an argument that resulted in one calling the other "dumb." 

Now... I realize that seems silly to our adult brains.

But to those two 6th grade boys, this was a big deal.

Why?

The one who was called dumb felt hurt. 

He was insulted.

He was called a name.

And it hurt his heart.

A question was asked...

Are you dumb?

No.

A follow-up question was asked...

Then why believe him? 

Their issue was resolved and off they went playing some random game for the rest of their lunch/break time, once again friends and happy.

I laughed a bit, but then I started thinking.

How often do we do this to ourselves?

How often do we criticize ourselves?

I'm such an idiot.

This outfit makes me look awful.

I'm never going to reach that goal.

I don't know why I waste my time. I'm so stupid. It'll never happen.

Sound familiar?

And I promise... 

I'm not pointing fingers at anyone but myself right now. 

But y'all, it's like Luke 6:45 said...

"What you say flows from what is in your heart." 

Why do I teach my students to only say nice, uplifting, encouraging things to themselves and others? Yet all the while, I say not-so-nice, discouraging things to myself. It's such a double standard.

So fast forward a few days.

I hear TobyMac's song, Speak Life, and it hit me like a ton of bricks.

Speak life.

These lyrics are only a small part of the song, but pack such a powerful message. 

Some days the tongue gets twisted;
Other days my thoughts just fall apart.
I do, I don't, I will, I won't,
It's like I'm drowning in the deep.

Well it's crazy to imagine,
Words from our lips as the arms of compassion,
Mountains crumble with every syllable.
Hope can live or die.

So speak life, speak life.
To the deadest darkest night.
Speak life, speak life.
When the sun won't shine and you don't know why.
Look into the eyes of the broken-hearted;
Watch them come alive as soon as you speak hope,
You speak love, you speak...
You speak life, you speak life.

Lift your head a little higher,
Spread the love like fire,
Hope will fall like rain,
When you speak life with the words you say.

Raise your thoughts a little higher,
Use your words to inspire,
Joy will fall like rain,
When you speak life with the things you say.

We need to lift our heads and raise our thoughts higher.

To the One who breathed life into us...

We need to use our words to help others AND ourselves, too.

We need to use our words to inspire.

To bring hope...

To bring joy... 

To spread love...

We need to use our words to SPEAK LIFE.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Today I'm joining Lindsay for her weekly Hello Monday link-up, where we chat about any topic we choose, while we connect with other bloggers. Want to join the Hello Monday fun? Click Lindsay's name above and get started.

And yes, I do realize it's Sunday. But my Mondays are usually pretty long and chaotic and I was afraid I wouldn't have time to actually post on Monday. Therefore, I'm posting today and will add my post to Lindsay's link-up tomorrow (on the actual day). Clear as mud, right? :)