“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.”
Proverbs 18:21 (ESV)Seven thousand words a day. Spoken, texted, typed, posted. Most of us never stop to think about whether any of those words are actually doing any good.
What would your word cloud look like? If someone followed you around for a week and mapped every word you said to your spouse, your kids, your coworkers, what would take up the most space? Correction? Criticism? Or encouragement, curiosity, life?
Derek, 42. Manager, husband of 14 years, father of three. He sees himself as a straight shooter; direct, efficient, gets things done. He never raises his voice. He just says what needs saying.
🥀 The Flesh
He cuts off his employee’s idea before she finishes. “We tried that in 2019.” Back to his phone. At home his son shows him a sketch he designed just for fun. Derek glances at it. “Cool. Did you finish your homework?” Puts it down, back to the game. He was not rude. He was just efficient.
The fruit on Derek’s tree? Indifference, disconnection, slow erosion.
🌿 The Spirit
One question that stuck with him on the drive in: What would my word cloud look like? Phone goes face-down in the meeting; he asks a real question and actually listens. At home the laptop closes the second his son walks in. “You designed this from scratch? Tell me about this building.” His son talks for twenty minutes straight.
The fruit on Derek’s tree? Curiosity, connection, life.
The flesh conserves words for efficiency. The Spirit understands that our words are seeds; what we stay quiet about still grows, just in the dark.
Leave a Reply