Words Can Never Hurt Me
Children taunt each other all the time, and it is not always innocent. In an age where events like those at Columbine High School float in the back of every parent’s mind, schoolyard rhymes like, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words (names) can never hurt me,” call for special attention. As adults, we know that this is a reply to hurtful bullying, and that hurt often compels the subject to retaliate.
Words have power. They can hurt, or they can heal. They inhabit our minds. They shape our character. They change us, and they change the world. It is not by happenstance or after-thought that Jesus Christ is called the Word [John 1:1]. It has been said that all of the words in the Bible can be summed up in Him.
Words are all about communication – sending and receiving messages, whether verbally or nonverbally. Meaning and significance are something else again, and implicit in all forms of communication is the potential for misunderstanding. Those who study hermeneutics try to understand words and their meanings. When this discipline is taken into the realm of Biblical understanding we come to realize that the Bible is filled with important words. Jewish tradition honors every small mark of the pen, down to what has been called the “jot and tittle.”
In this article, and the next few, we will look at some powerful words as they are used in the Bible. Sometimes, the simple ones are the strongest ones. There are three plain words of God that I would like to talk about, and a fourth that I believe stands above the others.
These words point to your calling as a Believer, and to your training and your pathway in life. They are at the essence of what happens in your life when Jesus arrives to guide your way. Here they are: Come, Wait, Go, and the greatest of all, Yes. We’ll take yes first, in our next post.
Strength and honor
