Daily Devotion:

Title: Sticks and Stones

Date: December 08, 2012

I love this Scriptural line for its sinister beauty: “He enjoyed the taste of his wickedness, letting it melt under his tongue.”

It’s a sentence that many of us might deny as ever applying to us. However, most of us can produce a cruel tongue that we use to produce pain.

As a boy, when bullies called me names, I’d chant, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

I always said this knowing, between you and me, that words do hurt. You know what I mean. Mean words sting. They bite. Wicked words wielded by a sharp tongue are like box cutters on the skin, or like a ball bat beating to the self.  Even as adults, hurtful words harm us, which is why we sometimes use them.

Scientific American reports that our experience of the power of mean words is true. The report says that social rejection elicits a brain response similar to the one triggered by physical pain. Subjects snubbed in a virtual game of catch exhibited activity in a brain region called the anterior cingulated cortex, which also plays a role in pain processing.*

So there we have it – sticks and stones do break bones, and words can break a heart.

Let’s Pray: Dear God, if my tongue is ever wickedly too quick in retort; if hurtful words escape my mouth with wounding effect stinging loved ones, friends, or strangers, help me regain control, help me keep silent rather than breaking a heart. Amen.

Here’s a Thought from Proverbs: “Gentle words bring life and health.”

Sources:

Graham, Sarah: “Rejection a Real Pain, Brain Study Shows,” Scientific American, October 10, 2003.

Job 20:12, New Living Translation

Proverbs 15:4, Ibid.