Our words shape our worlds

Hi All,
This the first post in the you section of my blog. And I am so happy to start it off with this specific post. My husbands cousin put these words as her status: "Our words shape our worlds". I thought to myself, WOW. How powerful and true is that. I think sometimes people don't realize how powerful words are. One word can change so much. Adele's post is just so awesome and powerful. May it change how we speak and teach our kids to say the right words at the right time. 

Hi, I'm Adele Hattingh and live in Johannesburg, South Africa. I work in the field of Child Psychology and Social Work. I am also a happy mother to two young boys and have a passion for bringing Christ to a lost and broken world.

Here is what I would like to share with you all:

We live in a world where words come to us at an increasingly rapid rate. From television, radio, social media platforms, billboards and magazines to the words that flow from the mouths of friends, relatives and your 5year old who just will not stop talking; we are bombarded by words on a daily basis. But do we realize what an impact these words have on our personal life? Do we stop to consider how the words that we are fed manifests itself in the words we ourselves speak? There is an old saying that ‘sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me’ but we ultimately have come to know that this is in fact just not true.  Our words can start a fight, they can heal, they can encourage, they can destroy and they can definitely hurt. Consider the power in the following:

“You have cancer” “I love you” “I’m pregnant” “Guilty” “You’re fired” Its three words at most, but when it is said in context, it can change your life forever. This is not a new concept or idea – there are more than 50 scriptures in the Bible that relates to the power of words. In the same way philosophers like Rumi and writers like Orwell has written loads on the subject. Some of my favourites include;

“But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.”
George Orwell, 1984

Proverbs 18:21 - Death and life [are] in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof

Matthew 15:18 - But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.

It is however only recently when I started realizing the power of ‘self-talk’ and the effect my words have on my own personal living space, mood and even my emotional strength to deal with situations. I realized that a lot of my sentences start with “I can’t cope with this”, “I’m so upset by this”, “I hate…”, “I can’t…” 

How much negative energy was I bringing into my own life by doing this! Even my words to others have become so negative. This was not a conscious thing but I decided to consciously change it and with the help of the Holy Spirit I was starting to pay attention to my words. I didn't want to live in a negative world. I didn't want to doubt myself, hurt myself and walk around in a dark space all the time. When I was challenged, I used self-affirming words that gave my self-esteem a boost. When I was overwhelmed by negativity I started using positive words that inspires hope. I started small and I am hoping to slowly infiltrate other area of my life. I am hoping to use positive words to build myself and those around me. 

We know that our words start as thoughts and ultimately I want the following to manifest in my life:

Phill.4v8 “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. “

Thank you for reading my post. 

Love, Adele