I got a text from Ron asking me to check out a website and share my thoughts about the contents on the site. I typed in the address given and the subject lines I saw on this particular website were a little disturbing. Just to make sure I was not overacting, I summoned a friend to check out the site and she too was somewhat taken aback. I texted Ron back just to verify if that was the site he had wanted me to see. His response was, ?...www......com. Maybe it is org, but it should be correct. What's the problem?" You dowanna know!!! I thought to myself and then told him the contents of the site. His response, "Thats not the site...I will check when I get back to the office."Instead of waiting on him, I tried .org at the end of the web address and boy, was there a difference. One little end word made the difference. Com or Org! .org gave life, .com gave death. .org inspired, .com caused one to retreat. Org encouraged you to read its contents, .com made you shy away from them. One small end word. Interesting how words have an effect all across the board. Words make or break a person. Just like org or com can have a significant difference in presenting its contents, written or spoken words can have significant effects on each one of us. John 1:1 states, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God...In Him was life and the life was the light of men." This beginning word carries with it life. A life that can be lived out to its fullest. Proverbs 18: 21 states, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue and those who love it will eat its fruit." Words also have the potential for death.
Every day we are given the opportunity to have life end words, but we fail. I must say I am sometimes guilty of wanting to have the last word with the .com effect to make and prove my point. More often than not, it backfires because you realize that it is not worth the trouble. Proverbs 17: 27 says it best. "He who restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding." Depending on how we utter our words makes us wise or foolish. It is, after all our choice. The words are ours!
Proverbs 16:24 says, "pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones." Words provide healing if we let them. What is so special about words anyway? Life; that is what is special. Words we speak or write carry with them life. Ever wondered why we read God's Word? Because it gives us life. Ever wonder why God speaks to us? Because His words give life. If we truly understood the magnitude of what our written or spoken words do, we would be more careful speaking and responding.
Looking at the two websites, two groups of people chose to write words that would either build a society or tear one down. The end words made a difference concerning what would shape or define what we consider to be worth to the human spirit. Each day we have a choice. A choice to build or to tear down. A choice to enrich a life or discredit a life. A choice to encourage or discourage. Words are just not words. They are life or they are death. May we challenge each other each day to speak words that build. We can either be a .com or a .org an end word which can be an urgent of transformation.
