What's Holding YOU Captive?

Words are powerful. In fact, they are way more powerful then we realize. In Proverbs 12:18 it says. " There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing." Have you ever been talking to someone and all of a sudden something they say feels like a punch to the gut? Or you start a conversation with a stranger in a grocery line and they say something encouraging that brings you to tears, like a balm for your hurting soul? Sometimes we don't eve realize we are hurting until someone says something that brings that pain to the surface. 

 The power of words is an amazing tool, it helps us build the relationships that grow us as people and make our lives meaningful.  We are all alone in our own minds, it's when we can communicate effectively and feel that others understand us and accept us that we attain that sense of belonging that we all innately desire.

However, it's impossible to be in relationship without being misunderstood at some point or even flat out hurt. Sometimes these painful experiences are purposeful attacks but most of the time it's unintended pricks through ignorance or insensitivity to something in your life. The trouble is that even if it's unintended there are still powerful consequences when we use words lightly.  

If I were to ask you right now to describe yourself, what words would you use? Are these your own thoughts? Or how others have described you throughout your life? Do you view yourself in a positive light or a negative one? Did you grow up with a family that affirmed you? Or one that made cutting comments? When you start to dream or make plans, do thoughts and fears leave you paralyzed? Do your own thoughts whisper that you can't succeed or stand out in whatever you want to pursue? 

When people compliment you, do you brush it off?  When others see talent in you, do you make light of it? When you see someone pursuing something that appeals to you, do you think you could never do what they are doing?  Ask yourself WHY? What ideas or insinuations about yourself have you accepted to be true?

 When I was about 5, I overheard a neighbor talking about me and how I would never amount to anything because I was a Jarvis, and as I got older I would notice things like eye rolls, or raised eyebrows that communicated the disapproval of my actions, all of these things began to form my ideas about what I was capable of, what others expected of me, and what my place was in the world.
 As I have pushed through in my own life, I have discovered that the only person who gets to decide your place in the world is YOU.

 If you take a look through out history some of the greatest accomplishments have been made by people that the world dismissed, or who conquered unimaginable difficulty to achieve greatness. In light of that, are the hurdles you have to cross really that difficult?

There is this story I heard about an elephant tied with a rope to a plastic lawn chair. When asked about it, the trainer explained that it had been tied with that rope since it was a baby and it had conditioned him to believe he could not break away.

Words can have the same effect on us. They can bind us and give us an easy out on areas of lives. Think about how this applies to you and when those thoughts or reactions arise, make a commitment to speak the truth to yourself. Choose to act on the truth and not reside in the lie. Liberate yourself from the power of those words.  You were created for great things and you can't fulfill them tied to a lawn chair! Maybe you are being held captive right now, but you are also the one holding the key.