Words, Words, Words

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by Shirley E. Gould

When I was in elementary school, I learned a saying…

Sticks and stones may break my bones,

But words will never harm me.

This childhood saying was meant to encourage kids to not allow what other classmates say to hurt their feelings. But words do hurt! They stay in our memory and mold what we think about ourselves and others.

Words are very powerful. They can be used for good and for bad.

Scripture says…

The tongue has the power of life and death…Proverbs 18:21, NIV

I know some great people who always have up-lifting things to say. They make you feel important. Special. I’ve also met some spiritual Zorros who slice and dice people with their words and feel super self-righteous as they leave them bleeding and wounded in their wake. Their comments hit the mark—wounding their target.

Scripture says…

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. Proverbs: 15:1 NKJV

The choice is ours. Using scripture—God’s words—lives are altered, challenged and improved.

We, as writers hold the power of words at our fingertips. We can write various scenarios—address the pain it causes and take the opportunity to show how our characters discover God’s truth about past pain and see how they apply that truth to their personal situations.

Readers need to hear, learn, and apply scriptures and counseling tips to conquer serious issues in their own lives. Our words have the power to heal, to challenge and to assist people to build bridges and get over their past pain.

Adding promises of God for our characters to stand on in their circumstances, gives our audience the information they need to make personal progress as they read our stories.

Using a verse in Proverbs our characters can learn to trust in the Lord and lean not on their own understanding. They can learn that they don’t have to be alone in Hebrews when it says “I will never leave you or forsake you in Jesus’ own words. When you add the verse in Second Corinthians that tells us in our weaknesses He is strong, our heroes and heroines can conquer anything. Our underlining hope is that this effort changes lives in an eternal perspective.

What an opportunity! As Christian fiction writers we can share life-changing messages in our prose and minister to hurting readers as they fall in love with our characters and are touched by the spiritual thread we weave through our adventures.

Words carry so much weight. Let’s tip the scales toward the goal of changing lives.

As writers we hold the power of words at our fingertips by Shirley E. Gould #ACFWBlogs #amwriting http://www.acfw.com/blog/words-words-words Click To Tweet

Shirley E. Gould is an inspirational speaker, an African missionary and a freelance journalist. She’s founder of Kenya’s Kids Home for Street Children in Kenya, East Africa. Shirley has written articles and newsletters for twenty years and is presently writing Christian Fiction novels. She lives in the Nashville, Tennessee area.

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