When Hell Comes to you Part 2 Do Words Matter?

You've heard the phrase, "Sticks and stones will break my bones but words/names will never hurt me." You may have been taught that words are just... words. Well let's look at what Scripture says about words before continuing further.
Proverbs 18:21 (Nlt)
The tongue can bring death or life;
those who love to talk will reap the consequences.
We need to be very, very careful of what we say to others. Words can encourage, or they can curse. God gave us mouths to glorify him and to lift others up in encouragement, and to correct one another in love. Yet so many people use their tongues to destroy a person's self-worth, to distort one's view of God and to manipulate a person into guilt. Let's examine some other verses.
James 1:26 (Nlt)
If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.
God's not looking for lip service from us. He wants real, pure hearts with a desire to serve him. He wants obedience and love. We encounter many who use his name for personal gain however, and use his name to cause friction in a family or household. Verbal abuse is not only vocal but it's spiritual! That's what many people don't understand. You don't just say something when you abuse verbally, you start something. It may start out as a small problem, but it leads to bigger ones. Let's examine one more Scripture. Some encouragement for victims of verbal abuse directed at you because of your faith in Christ.
Matthew 5:11-12
“God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.
Remember that you brothers and sisters in Christ are blessed, despite what anyone says about you or your Savior. I have personally experienced this so many times. The "natural" reaction is to lash out against the mocker and say, No! You have no right to say this! But the best thing we can do is go to the Lord in prayer and ask him to help us maintain an attitude of peace and that he would cover us. Father, I ask right now that you would reach out to the hearts of both the abused and the abuser. It is important Lord for both of us to realize the power of words, for the abuser to realize what his words do and how much they can hurt, and for the abused to remember not to throw the same abuse at the abuser. It's so, so, so hard Lord, but you give us strength to fight through this. You give us hope and encouragement that you loved us then, you love us now and you will continue to love us. In the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

When Hell Comes to You (Introduction)

     Abuse. It's something you hear a lot about in our society. Domestic abuse, child abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, unfortunately sometimes spiritual abuse, verbal abuse? What? Yes, verbal abuse! This is more than just your average everyday name calling on the playground, or sharing a laugh with someone and throwing jabs at one another, this is painful. It's the regular attack of someone's self-worth, or the use of horrible words to manipulate someone's emotions. If you read the very first post I ever did in Out of the Ashes, I told you this blog was going to go to dark places. And you may not think this is one of them, but it is. There are so many people that have had their lives ripped in two by verbal abuse. It not only affects self-worth but it stirs up emotions to the point that one is unable it seems to control how he/she thinks because those words ring over and over in their heads. I'm not here to compare one form of abuse to another, but verbal abuse leaves scars that people don't always see! I say this, because like so many others, I have been affected by this. God has been and still is working on me to heal me and I believe this blog series will not only help me heal but God is going to use me to show others, we can overcome this. There is freedom from the pain it causes. There is freedom in Christ Jesus from the guilt, the shame, the discouragement, the death! May this blog challenge all who read it and I pray God's blessings on it. Lastly, I pray for his strength and guidance as I write this series. Because the one thing I want to make very clear throughout this whole series is that even though it will take dark, sometimes angry turns, I love my abuser, and it took me a long time for me to say that, a very long time. In a later post I will show how God brought me to a place of being able to love, but for now, may this series challenge you, and encourage you as well.