Mean What You Say—An Introduction
If you were to ask my old students what my biggest catchphrases were, a lot of different things could pop up. At some point though, you’d start to hear a lot of “dictionary.com” or, “check a dictionary,” or something along the lines of pointing my students to checking dictionary when they didn’t understand what a word meant. I never told them what words meant. I always made them look it up.
I had a few reasons for this. One, was to practice using a dictionary. I wasn’t aware that organizing in alphabetical order was a dying art or a lost skill but in my teaching years, I quickly learned that there are a lot of students who don’t know alphabetical order or how to use a dictionary. Making them look up every word helped learn and practice these skills.
Another reason I did this was because I was trying to teach my students to learn something on their own. In looking up a definition in the dictionary they were learning how to find out information on their own without taking someone else’s word for it.
As I write this, the Presidential Debate of 2024 is happening. When this posts tomorrow, many Americans will be thinking about the debate and a lot of people will be discussing the debate. There will be commentators, bloggers, and podcasters giving their interpretation and analysis on the debate.
I say that because right now there are a lot of words being thrown around. There are a lot of things being said. I just want to take a moment to remind everybody that words matter.
Growing up, I heard the idiom, “talk is cheap” frequently. It was said constantly as if it was a personal life phrase or life motto. I’ve heard the idiom used by people who were trying to get away from sales people, “yeah buddy, talk is cheap.” It’s easy to see the desire of wanting actions over words. People can say whatever words they want but it’s hard to trust people without action.
I can understand the sentiment. In fact, I agree with it. When my husband came back and wanted to reconcile, I told him to prove it. When my husband came back around to reconcile, I had already gone through believing previous words and empty-promises. He lost my trust. In order for me to believe his words, he had to start showing action.
So I understand the desire to see action behind words. I really do, but I still stand by the the statement that words matter. Words matter because words tell us what is in our hearts. Let’s just see what the Bible says.
Matthew 12:34(b)-For the mouth speaks from that which fills the heart.
Luke 6:45 (b)-for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.
Whatever gunk, junk, and feelings we cling to in our hearts will come out of our mouths. We’re not supposed to say things during high emotions because we end up saying things we wish we could take back. We say things we have to go back and apologize for and say that we didn’t mean.
But we choose our words. We choose what to say when we speak. We choose what we say when we write. We choose what we listen to and what was say in response. I would argue that even in those heightened emotions, we still mean what we say. The heightened emotions just take away our filter that tells us that those harsh words aren’t something to share. Our heightened emotions leave us unfiltered and the nasty parts of our humanness comes out.
Jeremiah tells us that our hearts are deceitful and is desperately sick. (17:9) Our human nature is not one of holiness, goodness, or even enough-ness. This is why we need Christ. This is why we need God. Our hearts are deceitful and desperately sick, and the things that fill our hearts will come out of our mouths.
Our words speak to what we’re filled with. Words matter so pay attention to the words being spoken around you. Pay attention to who is saying what. Pay attention to the truth behind the words. Also, dig deeper. What is the meaning behind the words? Are the words truthful? Can you find out more information on what is being said? Use some critical thinking skills to do some analysis. When you catch a lie, see how it is handled. Is the lie admitted and corrected? People can misspeak or be mistaken over topics and when those mistakes happen, it is easy to correct. It becomes a lie when the correction never comes.
We need to head back to elementary school and learn the difference between fact and opinion. Too many people are sharing their opinion and their analysis on other people’s words as facts for their meaning. Recognize an opinion when you read or hear one and have the patience (and will power) to go back and read original context.
Now, more than ever, words matter. We need to check definitions, check meaning, do analysis and figure out the truth.
There is a lot of talking happening right now. We need to have ears that hear and eyes that see.
I’ll be covering these topics in depth in the coming weeks. If any of my former students are reading this, you’ll feel like you’re back in class with me.
Photo by Natalia Y. on Unsplash