Yesterday, while shopping at the local Wal-mart, I was walking out with my full cart and saw, from a distance, lights twinkling. As I moved closer and the lights moved closer to me, I realized the lights were coming from a little girl’s shoes as she was skipping through the parking lot, towards Wal-mart, with her mom (assumption on my part). As I passed her, I said, “my your shoes are lighting up so pretty!”. She looked down, smiled and immediately stood taller, so proud of her shoes and so proud someone had noticed.
As I walked away, I started thinking about how positive words can make us stand taller. As Proverbs 18:21 says, “death and life are in the power of the tongue.” We have the power, with our words, to build up or tear down. That is a power that many people choose to abuse or a power they don’t realize they have.
Pay attention to the reactions of people when you smile at them while looking at their eyes, when you speak words of affirmation, when you offer praise for a job well done, when you find what was done right instead of what was done wrong, when you offer grace instead of scorn, when you offer forgiveness instead of hate.
Think about how you feel when you are given positive and encouraging words. You may not be standing tall on the outside but on the inside you are. May we all spend more time finding ways to make others stand tall by freely speaking positive words.