“Words, words, words, I’m so sick of words.  I get words all day through … First from him, now from you.  Is that all you blighters can do?”

- Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady

 

Article by Judy Mosley

 

Eliza probably stated it best.  If there was anyone who knew about words, it was she.

 

All day long, words had been crammed down her throat by Professor Higgins and by the end of her experience, she was through with words.

 

But for the whole of the human race, words are mostly how we communicate.  We can hardly go through one day without hearing, speaking, or reading a word.  But for something that is used so much, this type of communication seems to get us into more trouble than anything else …

 

Anyone that has ever been in any type of relationship can tell you the power that a word has had over their lives.  Good or bad, words can make a relationship better or worse.  And before we use them, there are some things that we need to remember about them.

 

Realize that:

 

Everyone has a filter

When we hear a word, or a sentence, very few people can take that word without attaching something to it.

 

For instance, if I am in a discussion with my husband and he asks, “Can I pray for you about this?” … I can’t hear those words without remembering my past.  Since my experience with praying during discussions was not a helpful one, I normally decline his offer.  Thankfully, he doesn’t take offense because he knows my experience. And by having that knowledge, he has learned ways to communicate to me in ways that are more helpful.

 

For the most part, men and women speak a different “language”

Emerson Eggerichs described this “language” barrier in his book, Love and Respect.  By using the verse in Ephesians 5:33, Emerson unpacks the truth that most men and women hear words differently and respond to them differently because they are different sexes.  Moreover, according to Emerson love and respect are actually “languages” that can be spoken to effectively reach your significant other.  I would highly recommend this book to anyone who would be interested in communicating more effectively to the opposite sex in any relationship.

 

Words are powerful

As I mentioned above, all of us know the power of words.  Yet it’s amazing how so many of us struggle (myself included) with keeping our words in check.

 

I can remember many times where I have said something, and in the next second, wished that I could have taken those words back.  What we need to remember is that words that are spoken (or written) in a hurtful manner, only serve to hurt.  They never help or inspire the person to whom they are aimed. They only do the opposite.

 

In the next article, I will lay out essential tips that have helped me to communicate in a more effective manner.

 

“However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.”

- Ephesians 5:33

 

“Words – so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become, in the hands of one who knows how to combine them!”
-Nathaniel Hawthorne

 

“Kind words may be short… but their echoes are endless.”
-Mother Theresa

 

“For words are magical formulae. They leave finger marks behind on the brain, which in the twinkling of an eye become the footprints of history.  One ought to watch one’s every word.”
-Franz Kafka

 

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