Sticks and Stones

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me"

You have heard that saying before. You have probably also heard people disagree with it in resent years. I have to admit that it bothers me when I hear people disagree with that (non biblical) proverb. It is not that I think they are wrong in their disagreement; it's just that they have taken the saying out of context. The phrase is not incorrect; it is just incomplete. Additionally, it was originally deviced as a means to teach children how to react to insults. It's original intent was to teach children not to react physically to verbal insults, and to ignore them. Which is something that a lot of adults also need to learn.

Zig Ziglar quoted a little girl who said, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will break my heart."

Here is my version of it, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me, unless I allow them to"

You, as an adult, have the power to choose whether other people's words will hurt you or not.

If someone approached you and tried to correct you by telling you that 2 + 2 is not equal to 4, you would probably laugh, ignore them, and continue living your life in peace. Why would this correction make no impact in your life?

Because of your confidence that the assertion is mistaken

You should be able to respond in the same way when anyone approaches you and corrects you in any way, as long as they are mistaken in their assertion.

Whether they are bringing up a character flaw, an attitude, action, or they are calling you every name in the book; as long as they are mistaken, you should be able to ignore them and keep living your life without disturbance. So the question is, why don't you react in this way? Here are the two possible answers to that question:

A. They are not mistaken and their assertion is correct, or
B. You are insecure about yourself

Today I want to challenge you to inspect the way you react to people during conflict. Are you confident enough to say to yourself, "They are wrong," and GRACEFULLY ignore them?

Or, if they are correct, are you humble enough to accept that they are correct in their assertion and ask for forgiveness, instead of becoming defensive?