As a country, we are now into a month-ish long quarantine, meaning we have a lot more time around our families, which is great! And, can sometimes be really hard. In my home, I’ve noticed we have been much less careful with our words towards each other lately, and that is something that we have needed to correct. Maybe you are in the same boat.
My kids, and us parents too, need to remember that the words we say, meaningful or not, are forever out there, building people up or tearing people down. The words we say are remembered by others way beyond the days they were spoken.
So to make a visual point in correcting our behavior, this is what we did.
I grabbed a match and lit it in the house. My kids are now giving me their full attention! My question to them was this: What bad things can fire do? They provided all the appropriate answers (forest fires, etc.), and then the match went out. My second question to them was this: What good can fire do? They too gave all the right responses (heat, light energy, etc.)
So they get it.
We talked about the fact that it’s crazy a fire can do such good things, and yet also be so destructive, just like the tongue. Our words can build people up, show them love and kindness, or it can hurt them and cause them pain, just like the bible tells us in James chapter 3. “But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body.”
Then we did another example, this time with toothpaste. Each of my three got a paper plate and the cheapest tube of toothpaste that I could find. I asked them to get all of the toothpaste out onto the paper plate. They thought that was super fun. When the tubes were all empty, I asked them to put all of the toothpaste then back in the tubes. They looked at me like I was crazy! One of them tried really hard. 🙂 But once the toothpaste is out, there is no putting that stuff back in there. Just like our words.
My six-year-old said it clearly, “When I say something, my words are all gone. I can’t take them back. It’s just like that toothpaste.”
So although we now understand it, we will still have to work on it… forever. Me included. But the great thing about this lesson is there is now a visual behind it. When we are headed down the path of inappropriate or careless language, I can remind them about the toothpaste and the fire, and they will understand the consequences. It’s just a little thing, but maybe it will make them speak more carefully and a little more kindly. HLLF –
