Words

Everywhere I turn it seems that God is speaking to me about the words I say. From church I am hearing about the power of blessings and curses. From a parent class I am taking I am hearing how important it is to mold your child's heart while they are young. The words I say to my children do matter. Then tonight as I was flipping through the Bible I saw Hebrews 13:15 which says "Through Him. therefore, let us constantly and at all times offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of lips that thankfully acknowledge and confess and glorify His name."

As I first read this verse I began to feel overwhelmed. Man, here we go again! I sometimes just get tired of saying positive things. It's hard not to lose your cool when you have one kid spilling her drink, one throwing his food on the floor and another saying "Mommy! Mommy!" It's hard to look up and say "You sure are great little people! I just love the way you keep me on my toes." No - everything in me wants to scream, call them some names and send them away to their rooms. Let's not even talk about how nice I want to be to the mail lady in my yard honking her horn non-stop after I have just gotten all the babies asleep. Being nice is not always easy. At times like these it is a sacrifice.

I am not always going to feel like speaking kind words. I am not always going to feel like praising God; but the great thing about this is that God understands. That's why in Hebrews it uses the word "sacrifice." Sometimes it's going to be hard and I am not going to be able to do it on my own. When I make the small sacrifices not to scream but instead to lift His name, He moves close to me and empowers me to be all I can be.