Words
There’s a consulting firm near Geneva that has several well-known international companies as clients. The firm must write up reports in English and send them to these companies. Often they are just personality profiles or simple interview summaries. A couple times a week, I receive reports and do a quick read-over, correcting a handful of mistakes, turning a phrase, making a few francs.
I discussed one of the reports by phone with a good-guy consultant. If you ever need someone to gently correct you, this is the man to do it. Intelligent. Huge heart. Sympathetic. Excellent language skills… Just sometimes he has difficulty getting his thoughts down on paper.
Back to the phone call… After 20 minutes working on some phrasing, I asked him: Does it really matter if we use the right word? And he answered back, without hesitation:
What we say makes a difference.
Some of my friends are struggling with that. Some are bloggers. Some are teachers. Others are parents, preachers (or preachers’ wives). But just remember… I’ve got a consultant friend who believes that…
What we say makes a difference.
… and a Spirit-filled message that says: Let all your words be uplifting, filled with truth.
I discussed one of the reports by phone with a good-guy consultant. If you ever need someone to gently correct you, this is the man to do it. Intelligent. Huge heart. Sympathetic. Excellent language skills… Just sometimes he has difficulty getting his thoughts down on paper.
Back to the phone call… After 20 minutes working on some phrasing, I asked him: Does it really matter if we use the right word? And he answered back, without hesitation:
What we say makes a difference.
Some of my friends are struggling with that. Some are bloggers. Some are teachers. Others are parents, preachers (or preachers’ wives). But just remember… I’ve got a consultant friend who believes that…
What we say makes a difference.
… and a Spirit-filled message that says: Let all your words be uplifting, filled with truth.
May 8th, 2007 at 7:27 am
Thanks, Brady, I needed this!
Even living in a culture that’s not American, but where English is spoken, I can easily use the wrong word or turn of phrase. Most here think I am English until I open my mouth and hear my accent. Some days it would be best if I didn’t even leave the house or answer the phone.
Other days, when I get really frustrated with my husband’s or my immigration situation and how the issue is being viewed in the US by people in the church, I should probably not read, type, speak on the phone, etc. I know there are family members that don’t like where I am, and have told others but not me. They don’t know the whole picture.
What we say does make a difference. Can’t a Spirit-filled message that is filled with truth also be hurtful?
Thanks.
May 8th, 2007 at 10:53 am
I now applaud you sir. I have a letter to type and I need to frame as a “Spirit-filled message. Thanks for the reminder.
May 8th, 2007 at 3:14 pm
What we say does make a difference. How we say what we say makes all the difference.
May 8th, 2007 at 4:53 pm
I found myself on the receiving end of it today. My boss, whom I love and respect, responded to an e-mail very curtly. I know that SHE doesn’t know everything I’m going through right now. And she is going through her own stuff. Still, it was hard to swallow.
What we say makes a difference. Pretty good mantra.
May 8th, 2007 at 9:22 pm
Good reminder. Sometimes the best we do, the message is still taken wrong. It seems to happen more to public speakers. But the reminder is very timely.
May 10th, 2007 at 7:47 am
Words can make all the difference in the world. I know my professors always have us speak in “person first” langauge, in which you always put the person before the disability. Words can be rewarding and haunting.
I just watched a special, where an atheist promised a crowd that there is no Hell. His group has people publicly denounce their belief in God the Father, Jesus as the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I do not know what words to use to describe how I feel in response to this denial in God’s existence and promise.
At the same time, with my semester coming to an end, a professor gave me positive comments on how much they appreciate what I shared in my writing and the insights I brought to the class. I was speechless there too, but at least it felt good.
What we say or choose not say, does make all the difference.