A Parent's Words

                                                    

        Today, there is much at stake in what we say. Words plummet from our mouths brandishing unlimited influence. Words boast of the authority to encourage, uplift, compliment, validate, extend hope, and promote healing. The very way our words are exhaled kiss the soul and declare life. Alternatively, words flaunt the ability to cut, pierce, provoke, irritate, anger, shatter, and destroy. Jon Bloom, president of Desiring God, writes, “People die because of something said. Tongues can be weapons of mass destruction, launching holocausts and wars. Tongues can also be the death of marriages, families, friendships, churches, careers, hopes, understanding, reputations, missionary efforts, and governments.” But, the most prevailing words that echo through the recesses of our minds are those articulated by our fathers. Because a father’s words are weighty.

As a mother, the words I declare over my children are powerful, but the words spoken by a father have a greater impact and far more lasting consequences.  Angry, careless words can drop heavy like a crushing brick stripping the blossoming woman within of worth and dignity causing her to wither inside. A father’s words have the potential to inspire, reshape, redeem, and remind the precious soul of grace, unconditional love, respect, and chivalry. The mouth of a father is a Holy Grail filled with potent words to inoculate sons and daughters against a poisonous culture filled with the enemy’s defamations. A father can be the “voice of reason” or the reason their child no longer uses their voice. Because the sum of a father’s words are weighty.

The foundation of a daughter’s securities and subsequent inadequacies are erected on the affirmation or lack thereof they receive from their fathers. King Solomon wrote, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue and those who love it will eat its fruits” (Proverbs 18:21). A wise father knows his words can hurt more than sticks and stones and there is no such thing as an insignificant word. A wise father knows timing and tone are considerations and every single syllable has the potential to caress the soul or extinguish it. A wise father discerns that his words are weighty and he is careful to glorify God by tempering his anger in order to have a well-fathered daughter.

Womankind are born with a God given desire for affection, affirmation, and love. Every soul longs to be chosen and to believe they matter-that they have purpose. There is a heart hunger hidden in each woman reserved for their Daddy and a desire to delight him. Therefore there is no one on this earth who holds more power to ensure the thriving of a soul than a father. Ultimately our desires are a gaping hole. A gaping flesh wound inflicted in the garden when man chose woman over God. Perfection was destroyed, sin was introduced, and our souls have been gaping wide ever since. There is only one remedy for our scarred hearts. The only soul fulfillment is the love of a sinless Savior and a blood stained cross.  

He is the living Word and the eternal pre-existing Word and his very utterances created a universe beyond comprehension. The breath of the Holy One infuses our lungs and every single exhalation whispers his name pouring forth praise. Forever his word is firmly fixed in the heavens extending hope to a sin tainted world. And the most significant confession is birthed in our hearts which leads to salvation because “out of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 5:18)…Jesus is LORD! Jesus is LORD! Jesus is LORD! For that reason, our souls are diagnosed by our words since our tongues reveal our hearts. Our words exist in a circadian rhythm…daily gifts to sanctify our children who were made in the very image of God. Forgive us, Father, our soul amnesia overlooking whose image our children reflect and may our hearts consent with author Ann Voskamp to continually, “Speak words that make souls stronger,” because a parent’s words are weighty.