Now, I’m not sure how I ended up down the medical rabbit hole one day. But my best guess is that I was watching a random documentary (it’s really fun y’all) and heard one thing that stuck out to me. I often get stuck on unnecessary details (about everything), so this is fully plausible. However, my strange media options aren’t the important part here, but what I heard about the smallest organ in the body is important.
In case you were wondering, the smallest organ in the human body is the pineal gland. It is roughly about the size of a pea, located near the center of the brain. The job of the pea-sized organ is to produce melatonin, which affects how we wake up, go to sleep, and adjust to the (sometimes rapid) seasonal changes. So, when this tiny organ is working properly, our entire body is in-sync. But if this same tiny organ gets out of line and starts doing its own thing, our entire body could be thrown off track.
I know many medical professionals spent years and countless research hours understanding the power of this one tiny organ, so I’m pretty sure they’re right. However, I’ve spent countless hours on Google being an amateur detective, so I have skills too. As I was about to delve into my new Wikipedia research, I realized this organ sounds a lot like words we speak in life; small in thought, but powerful in action.
Words are small in thought, but powerful in action.
Just as this pea-sized organ has the power to keep our body on or off track physically, our words have the power to keep us on or off track emotionally, mentally and spiritually.
So, let me ask you, what are you telling yourself?
As people, especially those of us who have been hurt badly, one of the things we get really good at is developing our “public self.” You know our public self. The person who always says the right thing, in public. The person who always does the right thing, in public. The person who always has an encouraging word or helping hand, in public. Being this amazing, confident public person, all while hoping someone would extend those same things to us in private.
For the rest of this post, can we tell our public self to take a seat? Because he or she really isn’t needed for this. But who we do need, is our private self. Yes him, hiding in the shadows. Yes her, crouched down in the corner. THAT private self, please come forward.
See, our private self also knows those private conversations we’ve been having. You know those conversations. All those arguments that we win at home with our boss, when our boss isn’t there anymore. Or that good one-line comeback we have for rude people working in customer service, hours after we have left the store
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But can we go a little deeper? To those conversations we’ve been having for years with ourselves? Planning the perfect argument with our mom or dad to finally put them in their place for leaving and not protecting us. Plotting to seek out that person that stole safety and vulnerability away, just to let them know they don’t have that power anymore. Sometimes rehearsing an arsenal of “what I would do next time” scenarios, just in case anyone else thinks they can take advantage.
How about a little more personal? Really personal. To the blemishes and imperfections we highlight in the mirror each morning. To the list of personal failures we remind ourselves of regularly. To the “God can’t use me because I did this” or “God won’t use me because this happened to me” private talks.
Proverbs 18:20-21 (MSG) “Words satisfy the mind as much as fruit does the stomach; good talk is as gratifying as a good harvest. Words kill, words give life; they’re wither poison or fruit—you choose.” It’s in these rehearsed, personal, on-going, sometimes destructive private talks that we start to speak into our lives.
Now, are we justified in winning these fake battles in the privacy of our homes? Heck yeah! There are times in life where we have been legitimately wronged and there’s something nice about at least winning the fight in the mirror. But if we know all words (whether public or private) carry tremendous weight in our lives, is it still worth it? Is it worth our joy?
Are we willing to purchase this “win” if the cost is our peace?
Question of the Day:
What would happen if you mindfully picked your words?
Encouraging Verses:
And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire.
James 3:4-5 NLT
You will have to live with the consequences of everything you say.
Proverbs 18:20 GNT
From the fruit of his mouth a man's stomach is satisfied; he is filled with the product of his lips.
Proverbs 18:20 HCSB
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