Stick & stones may break my bones, but words will CHANGE me!
We've all heard the old saying, “Stick and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me!” Well that simply ain’t true! I know why this quote was used back in “those days” when I was growing up: it was meant to help me, not to allow words that were spoken to me to negatively bother or hurt me. But words do hurt, especially if they are spoken to you by people you care about or someone that you consider a friend.
The Bible states in the Epistle of James, chapter three, starting in verse five, “The tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things…but no one can tame the tongue, it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way!”
Words are powerful, the things we say to people, and the things we declare over our own lives can shape and change the destiny of people around us, to include ourselves. I love quotes, words that have shaped me, and continue to change my life. The following are some quotes that have shaped and changed my life over the years as well as recently. Words spoken to you, if received, can change you - so here we go. “Being a Christian is more than just an instantaneous conversion - it is a daily process whereby you grow to be more and more like Christ!” - Billy Graham “Just give me one hundred people who fear nothing but God, and hate nothing but sin, and I will turn the world upside down!” - John Wesley “Many Spirit-filled authors have exhausted the thesaurus in order to describe God with the Glory He deserves. His perfect holiness, by definition, assures us that our words can’t contain Him. Isn’t it a comfort to worship a God we cannot exaggerate!?” - Francis Chan “We are the Bibles the world is reading; We are the creeds the world is needing; We are the sermons the world is heeding!” - Billy Graham “The Lord Jesus regarded the Old Testament as a trustworthy, authoritative, unerring guide in our quest for enduring happiness. Therefore we who submit to the authority of Christ will also want to submit to the authority of the Book He esteemed so highly!” - John Piper “For God so loved the world, that He gave His One and Only Son, that whoever believes in Him would not perish, but have everlasting (Eternal) life!” - Jesus Christ (John 3:16)