Not long ago, a friend wrote a lengthy account of his summers working at a mountain resort during his college years. Since I had worked there too, his stories of people, places, and events brought a flood of wonderful memories. It wasn't until I reached the end of his account that I realized something striking about what he had written. I thumbed back through the pages and began counting people. In all, he mentioned about fifty of his co-workers by name and said something positive about each one.

It caused me to ponder the impact of my words, and ask myself: "Does what I say about people bring encouragement and affirmation? Am I usually talking about what's wrong with others or what's right? Am I primarily positive or negative?"

Proverbs 10:11 describes the mouth of the righteous as "a well of life." Verse 20 calls the tongue of the righteous "choice silver." Verse 21 says "the lips of the righteous feed many." The two constants are (1) a person who is righteous--right with God deep inside--and (2) words that nourish and refresh others.

Like our Savior, who spoke life-giving words, we can encourage and lift the spirits of others today by what we say about them.  — David C. McCasland