1. LIFE IS SHORT.
Here is the deal my friends.
I don’t mean this in a negative way, but in an urge you forward way what I am about to say.
The main reason why you should tell people what they mean to you is plain and simple because
LIFE IS PAINFULLY SHORT.
I don’t think we all think about this too much anymore in our present culture. I think part of that is the phenomenon of social media.
Social Media tends to have us believing that because things live on the internet world forever, so do we. It couldn’t be further from the truth.
Maybe your everyday life seems mundane and like the same thing day in and day out and you think you have forever. Maybe you have a great plan to retire and have all of life planned out.
This world is finite. The internet is most likely finite until something new comes to replace it. Our physical bodies are finite. Our physical life is definitely finite. It is not possible to get out of this life alive my friend. Period and end of story. Click here to read more about the gratitude of life and being alive.
If you really dwell on that and let it soak in like water to a washcloth for just a minute and it hits you deep in your core, it can and rightfully should change your perspective on how you live your life and speak to people and what it is that you say to those people. You can’t plan these moments. It doesn’t work like that.
2. WORDS CAN SAVE A LIFE.
If our lives are powerful and we were given mouths to speak, then the tongue is also super powerful and should be thought out carefully before we unleash what can be a beast.
That childhood saying about “sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me” is an outright lie from the pit of hell.
Words can not only hurt, but can live in the heart and run on repeat for years to come.
If someone is at their weakest and in the midst of great self-doubt the wrong words can even break that person and lead them to horrible things that there is no turning back from in this life, like suicide.
Words have the power to bring life and hope and peace and joy. They also have the power to kill, destroy, break down, and shame.
Why do we think things like “it’s not my fault that person took what I said the wrong way.” OK, in all fairness sometimes it’s not as sometimes that person’s perspective is skewed and will always look for the worst or hidden agenda in everything that is said to them regardless.
But, I’m not referring to those moments. I am referring to the times that it really matters to think clearly and hard before speaking and be sure they are positive, life-affirming, hope bringing, truth-telling words. There is, of course, a time for reproof and correction, but I am referring to most of our everyday interactions and how they can be so much more joyful and beautiful than they already are.
I am sure there are plenty of times I get on many people’s nerves as I do tend to go overboard of being sure that I am speaking love to those that matter to me on the daily. Part of that is just that I am hyper-aware how quickly my life could end. And then all I could do was hope that I spoke enough love and passion and encouragement to enough people in my life that they knew how much their life impacted mine without any doubt.
3. BUILDING UP.
Ephesians 4:29 reminds us “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” So, basically, we are being told to do it!
I think this is why I love to encourage people. It’s more than encouragement. It’s building up. I don’t know what they are meant for in the rest of their lives or how God can use them for mighty, incredible things only He knows. But, I do know that I am willing to breathe and speak life into building up.
Knowing what it feels like to have been ravaged and torn down by words, I find it extra easy to do the opposite by seeking good to speak to others and build up.
The world’s way is to think more highly of yourself and tear others down.
The Bible says to think of others before yourself and in doing so you serve the Lord. (Phil. 2:3)
The world says to be cunning and use your words to get what you want.
The Bible says to keep from deceitful speech. (I Peter 3:10)
The world says it doesn’t matter what you say. It can’t impact me.
The Bible says our words are like a healing balm to the soul. (Proverbs 16:24)
We don’t know what is going on in their private life. We don’t know if they are struggling behind the scenes, or walking through dark fiery trials. We don’t know if they are recently coming out of the shadows of something they have been struggling with for years. I know not, but God does.
It could literally be the very thing they need to hear in that moment. Never be ashamed to lift others up.
4. LIFE CAN CHANGE IN A MILLISECOND.
Why does it matter so greatly to tell others what you think of them right now? You may not get another chance.
In my days as an EMT, I saw entire families killed by drunk drivers. I saw tragedy in countless different ways affect people of all ages and health status.
Age and present health really don’t have anything to do with death. Yes, we can be the healthiest we can be, but anything can happen at any given time.
My mom was an incredible athlete and a triathlete at the time of the car wreck that left her a C1 quadriplegic for the rest of her life (which was nearly 10 years…a record according to her doctors).
This picture I decided to use for this post is so very personal to me. It is one I treasure and never imagined I would share it, but it is poignant and I wanted to share why. This picture was taken less than 24 hours before my mom would become instantly paralyzed in a car wreck Christmas Day on the way to church. It is the last picture I have of her and I together before our lives would drastically change forever.
I left about an hour after this picture to leave town. The crazy thing is I literally had what would be considered a panic attack each time we got out on the road I freaked out and made my husband go back so I could hug my mom. I couldn’t describe it and kept telling her, “I don’t know why, but I just really don’t want to leave you, Mom.” Her words still haunt me. She said with a big smile saying “It’s fine..go..I will be right here when you get back. I love you.”
I made my husband turn around not once or twice but 5 times. There was a strong draw to tell her at that moment what for some reason I couldn’t understand was so needed.
God knew what was coming. He knew that would be the very last time in my life I would feel my Mom’s arms around me. It would be the last time I would hear her tell me she loved me without labored breathing attached to a ventilator. It would be the last time I would see her standing on her own, not bound by the confines of all that was to come. He was giving me a gift by urging me to go back and tell her I love her over and over again.
Don’t wait until tomorrow to tell the people that have blessed you with their friendship, presence, teaching, or mentorship or some type of interaction or relationship in your life what they mean to you.
I have had beautiful soul encounters with strangers in stores, the local coffee shop barista, the grocery store checkout person, coaches, and obviously my friends and family.
Always try to tell that person, even if it was just a once in a lifetime encounter, how much that impacted you and how special they are and that you are thankful God allowed your paths to cross this side of heaven. Thank them for their encouragement, wisdom, and passion.
Today is all we have been given. Stop waiting.
5. WHAT DID JESUS DO?
Even if you didn’t look to a specific scripture verse, just look to Jesus’s life and how he lived it.
What did he do? He came alongside the everyday people and the ones that the world looked down upon and encouraged them, listened to them, and loved them well. He did more than that. He befriended them as well.
I WAS ONE OF THOSE!
I know what an absolute wretch I was before God grabbed a hold of me. I know that if you knew half of the things I have done in my life you would run screaming for the hills saying I am a horrid person you want nothing to do with and that I am a lowlife.
BUT GOD.
If He can pull me from the wreckage, slather me up and down with His Amazing Grace that soaks into my very pores, how can I not then want to seek out and share that with others around me that I see as so beautiful and special?
BOTTOM LINE….
Your words matter…
Speak Truth.
Speak Life.
Speak Love.
Tell That Person What They Mean To You.
Don’t Wait.
Someone needs to hear it today more than you can imagine.
I am wrapping this up with a verse that gives me literal chills when I think of it in actual reality. The unseen world is actually going on all around us at every moment of every day and really emboldens me to tell those in my life what they mean to me.
“Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” Hebrews 13:1-2
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