Sticks & Stones...

"Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me." We are all taught this rhyme when we are young. It's supposed to help us when we are being made fun of. But really, does it help? Is it even true? I would say no. Words can and do hurt, and in some cases hurt more than sticks or stones.

One of my favorite quotes is that of a man named Geri McGhee, "Words are creative either for good or evil. Words either bind or they loose. Words can be destructive or constructive; they can build up or they can tear down."

How true is this?! Geri McGhee reveals a major truth; that words CAN hurt. They can be quite destructive, and drive people to hate and even hurt themselves. But he also reveals something on the other side of the coin. If the words that we use either build up or tear down, then everything we say, will do one or the other, not both (and rarely do they do nothing).

So if we understand that our words either build up or tear down, why do people use their words to tear down. I'm sure they know their words will hurt. The conclusion that we can draw is that they mean for their words to hurt, they intend to hurt the person. But why would someone mean to hurt someone else?

Ah, that is the question at hand; why would someone want to hurt someone else? Because they're mad, or they're getting revenge, or they're amusing themselves, or pumping themselves up, or are they trying to get others to notice them or laugh along? Whatever the reason, it is because they are thinking about and looking out for themselves. This is the definition of 'selfish'. Put-downs are a matter of the heart. Rumors, slander, gossip, the mean things we say, they are all symptoms of a selfish heart. All Jr. high students are welcome to join us tomorrow night as we continue to discover how put-downs are symptoms of a selfish heart, and what we can do about it.