Words that Wound / 伤人的话

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Dexu Xia

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Jun 27, 2019, 2:30:02 AM6/27/19

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Words that Wound

The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. Proverbs 12:18

“Skinny bones, skinny bones,” the boy taunted. “Stick,” another chimed. In return, I could have chanted “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” But even as a little girl, I knew the popular rhyme wasn’t true. Unkind, thoughtless words did hurt—sometimes badly, leaving wounds that went deeper and lasted much longer than a welt from a stone or stick.

Hannah certainly knew the sting of thoughtless words. Her husband, Elkanah, loved her, but she had no children, while his second wife, Peninnah, had many. In a culture where a woman’s worth was often based on having children, Peninnah made Hannah’s pain worse by continually “provoking her” for being childless. She kept it up until Hannah wept and couldn’t eat (1 Samuel 1:6–7).

And Elkanah probably meant well, but his thoughtless response, “Hannah, why are you weeping? . . . Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?” (v. 8) was still hurtful.

Like Hannah, many of us have been left reeling in the wake of hurtful words. And some of us have likely reacted to our own wounds by lashing out and hurting others with our words. But all of us can run to our loving and compassionate God for strength and healing (Psalm 27:5, 12–14). He lovingly rejoices over us—speaking words of love and grace.

Reflect & Pray

When have you been hurt by unkind words? What helped you to heal? Who needs to hear your grace-filled words?

Loving Father, thank You for the healing and hope we find in You! Help us to bring our hurts to You—and always to be mindful of the words we say. Give us the wisdom and patience to think before speaking.

伤人的话

说话浮躁的，如刀刺人；智慧人的舌头，却为医人的良药。-箴言12章18节

我自小就很瘦，记得有个男孩总爱嘲笑我是瘦皮猴，还有人说，我瘦得皮包骨，就像一根竹竿。我本来应该嗤之以鼻，或者一笑置之，完全不放在心上。但我那时年纪虽轻，仍然觉得这些尖酸刻薄的话很伤人，怪不得古人说：“伤人之言，深于矛戟。”言语的伤害有时比利器造成的伤痕更深，持续的时间更长。

哈拿必定深知轻率的话语带来的伤害。她虽深得丈夫以利加拿的喜爱，却未能怀孕生子，反观丈夫的另一个妻子毘尼拿却有许多儿女。当时的文化认为，女人的价值就是传宗接代。毘尼拿总以哈拿没有小孩来奚落哈拿，使她痛苦，甚至哭泣、不思饮食（撒母耳记上1章6-7节）。

以利加拿看到哈拿的情况，原本是出于好意，但他不经意地说：“哈拿啊，妳为何哭泣不吃饭，……有我不比十个儿子还好吗？”（8节）让哈拿听了更加伤心难过。

或许有时我们也像哈拿一样，觉得恶言恶语所带来的伤害总是挥之不去。我们有些人则可能因自己曾受伤害，反倒以言语伤害别人。但我们所有人都可以奔向慈爱怜悯的上帝，寻求力量和医治（诗篇27篇5、12-14节）。祂会因我们而欢欣喜乐，并对我们说充满爱和恩典的话语。

主啊，感谢祢让我们在祢里面得医治和盼望！
求祢赐给我们智慧和耐心，让我们能三思而后言。