I was recently visiting someone in the hospital when I noticed an inconspicuous sheet of paper hung on a wall near the nurses station. The note was apparently a weekly exercise for the nurses to work on, meant to help them improve their job performance. The lesson this particular week was, “I will let my patients know that they are important to me by my body language and my words”.
As I read this message, I thought to myself, “Wow! What a great lesson. We could all stand to work on the message we send to others with our body language and words.” I felt ashamed, too, when I thought about how often I have made the people important to me feel like they were anything but.
So, I read the statement again and again, but this time personalizing it with each read. “I will let my husband know how important he is to me by my body language and my words”. “I will let my children know that they are important to me by my body language and my words”. “I will let my mother know that she is important to me by my body language and my words”.
I’m sure there will still be plenty of times that my body language and words do not send the message, “You’re Important to Me”, but this little exercise sure did bring things into better perspective for me, serving as a good reminder to think about the way I treat the people in my life.
Remember Jesus’ words in Matthew 12:36-37? "But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."
Careless words, I have spoken so many of them. You probably have, too. Let’s pray today for forgiveness for these words we will be judged by. Let’s also pray that God will give us n the discipline to guard our hearts, minds and tounges.
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