The Tale of the Frogs

"A man has joy in an apt answer, 

And how delightful is a timely word!"

Prov. 15:23

Of late I have been reading a book with some of the ladies leaving in our same apartment building, I found this illustration and I wanted to share it with you.

"A group of frogs were traveling through the woods, and two of them fell into a deep pit. All the other frogs gathered around the pit. When they saw how deep the pit was, they told the two frogs they were as good as dead. The two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump out of the pit with all of their might. The groups of frog kept telling them to stop because they were as good as dead.

Finally, one of the frogs took heed to what the other frogs were saying and gave up. He fell down and died. The second frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die. He jumped even harder and finally made it out. You see this frog was deaf, unable to hear what he others were saying. He thought they were encouraging him the entire time.

There is power of life and death in the tongue. An encouraging word to someone who is down can lift him up and help him make it though the day. A destructive word to someone who is down can be what it takes to kill him. Be careful of what you say. Speak life to those who cross your path. The power of words....an encouraging word can go such a long way. May your words be a blessing to someone today."

- Author unknown

Italians know very well how to criticize but they usually don't say encouraging words...as an Italian I have been learning the task of having a gracious word on my mouth. I was attending a college class this past spring and we had to evaluate each other messages...I was so good at finding what they did wrong in their public speaking but I noticed I was struggling in trying to find what they did well. I had to start taking notes of the things they did best so that I encouraged at the end. 

It is so true that with our words we can encourage or tear someone down. I hope you take the challenge with me today to have an uplifting word today for those who will be on our path. :)