“How we spoke then doesn’t matter, but it is how we speak now, and who we speak about.”

There was a time in my life when I spoke words that would make tears stream from the eyes of someone who hurt me. There was a time when I spoke in rhyme…it sounded good, but was it really good? There was a time when I would think of things to say if someone said something bad to me. I came to the conclusion that they were just hurt people hurting other people…taking their frustrations out on someone else. When that happens, we are to pray for them. We are to pray for God to give them a clear understanding of who He is in them.

Does it matter what others think about you, me, or her, or him? What matters most is what God says about us, and how He see us.

What matters most is our faith we have in Him.

Things may happen in our lives, but we should find a friend in Him.

Mrs. Shaunelius L. Sterns

Do we ever think about the things we say, or how we say them? Do we take the time to see if what we say will lift someone up, or tare them down? Do we think about what we say may hurt someone? How would we feel if someone said something to us that hurt us? What would we do, would we retaliate towards them? Would we forgive them? Would we hate them? Do we ever consider our Father’s heart when we say things we ought not say? How do we think it makes Him feel? Do we not realize that it just may break His heart? We all should think about what we say before we say it, and how we say it.

I for one can say that sometimes I will say something without thinking depending on how I feel. Sometimes I forget that I cannot just say things that I want to say, I have to think before I speak. I know it is hard being a Christian everyday. Sometimes I get in the flesh without even recognizing it, and that is something I do not want to do. I want to always be in the spirit. I want to always be able to speak how I ought to speak with my words seasoned with salt, not bitterness. I can admit that when I was young, I had a mouth that would not quit. I did not care about what I said, or how I made people feel, simply because I was always picked with and made fun of because of how I looked body wise. See I was very skinny. I could not help it because I was the small size that I was, so people would pick with me. I would cry, but that just made it worse, so I started speaking up for myself and defending myself at all costs. Even though I was small I had a very big voice and words to match, and a bad attitude. I did not care what I said or how I said it. I had grown cold towards people. I think I may have had hate in my heart for those who would mess with me. Now those times are just distant memories, but that is just how I was. It took me a very long time to forgive those people who treated me like that. I learned that some people just do not know how to treat others because they were never taught how to treat people with respect. They were never taught to treat people how they would want to be treated, so they learned how to bully others just to make themselves feel good about themselves. Even grown people act like that everyday…they do not know how to treat people because they were never taught when they were children. They only know how to hurt people. They do not know how to talk to people because they do not have people skills.

We have to be mindful of how we treat people, because the way we treat people is how we will also be treated. Others can dish it out, but they cannot take it when it is thrown back at them, and that is just the truth. People will use a person’s past and throw it up in their face to try to hurt them, but when it is done to them they become offensive about it. I look at it like this, if you cannot take it, don’t dish it because it will come back to you. As I said, “Hurt people, hurt people”. Some people speak with anger and intimidation to hurt others…throw their weight around with threats, but what they fail to realize is that what goes around comes right back around. What makes a person think that they can order someone around when they did not create them? I belong to God, and no one on this earth will order me around in any shape, form, fashion, or manner. No one will disrespect me in that way, or any kind of way at all. I do not have respect for those that do not have respect for me. To get respect you must first give respect…it does not matter who you are, or where you are from, respecting someone goes a long way.

There are those who are very disrespectful no matter how nice you are to them. I call them nasty evil souls. They have black hearts. I hate to be so direct, but it is what it is. They only care about what they want and how they feel, and how they bring someone down to hurt them. They do not care about their own soul. People like that never make it far in life. No one wants to be around that kind of person at all…they can change if they want to, but they don’t. It does not matter how much you pray for them, their hearts are just black as the darkest night. There is no light in them at all. They live and walk in darkness everyday of their lives. What does hurting someone profit? What is really going wrong inside of someone to make a person hurt someone? What’s that person’s mind frame? How do a person live with themselves when they have hurt someone? How do they sleep at night? How can they look at themselves in the mirror and not be disgusted with themselves? If there has ever been a time when I have hurt someone, I cannot sleep good, my heart hurts, I cannot eat, I cry because I know I have hurt someone I love….even if it is an accident done in anger, it bothers me. I have to pray and ask God for forgiveness, and ask that person to forgive me for the wrong I did to them. It takes a real person to ask for forgiveness of the person they have hurt. I know for myself that forgiveness is for me, because I do not want anyone having power over me except the One who created me. I wish that there were not any sin, anger, hate, and things in the world to make people do wrong. I wish everyone was saved and had the mind of Christ. I wish that we all could just get along and not look differently at someone because of the color of their skin.

Again, let us be mindful of what we say, and how we say what we are saying. We never know who we are hurting by the words we use when we speak. We do not have to be talking directly to someone for words to hurt, they could just hear something in the passing that you may be thinking out loud. We never know who is listening to us. One thing is for sure, we do know that God is always listening to everything we say, and our every thought. If we cannot say something good we should not say anything at all. If we cannot lift someone up with the words we say, we should not speak anything. We should always want to lift people up. Everyone needs encouragement….a kind smile. I think that if everyone would lift someone up everyday there would be less sadness in the world. We have to start somewhere. Sometimes that is all a person needs to get them through the day.

When we lift someone up with the words we say, it goes a long way. It makes a person feel good…it brightens their day and their spirit. When we do our best to show people the love of God, it says a lot about who we are in Christ. I feel that it makes God’s heart happy. We all have days when we are feeling sad for whatever reason, but when someone tells us that everything is going to be alright that makes us smile. We believe it because we know that God has us in the palm of His hands. We know that He has our back. Choose words wisely, always speak kindly.

THE CROSS

The cross I saw when I closed my eyes where Jesus died for you and me.

The shame of sin tore His skin for you and me. The cross stands empty for the world to see, but we can still go there you and me. When you close your eyes, what do you see? Do you see your sins…when I say “you”, I mean the world.

The cross I saw when I closed my eyes where Jesus died for you and me. At the foot of the cross there is still room, it is open and free for all to come to to receive redemption and forgiveness for all eternity. To be made new, to let go of the old, to be washed whiter than snow from the blood that drips there…we should care…our sins were there. He didn’t complain…didn’t say one word…forgave us for everything, so that’s why I sing to my King covered in majesty, our crowns to Him we will bring, laying them down at His feet which walked the dusty street…to make things new again in the end we win. Praise the Lord! We WIN!!!