{"id":301736,"date":"2008-12-30T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-12-30T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/%series%\/breaking-the-curse-of-words-part-2\/"},"modified":"2008-12-30T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2008-12-30T17:00:00","slug":"breaking-the-curse-of-words-part-2","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/breaking-the-curse-of-words-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking the Curse of Words, Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Do someone\u2019s harsh words still haunt you?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":294104,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"https:\/\/web.familylifetoday.com\/fl2008-12-30.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"00:","filesize":"12.69M","filesize_raw":"13311208","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":""},"categories":[2902],"tags":[4527],"podcast_series":[7624],"cwp_profile":[9070],"series":[2101],"class_list":["post-301736","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-resolving-conflict","tag-communication","podcast_series-breaking-the-curse-of-words","cwp_profile-tom-elliff","series-familylife-today"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg?w=508","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2023\/02\/image-scaled.jpg","download_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-download\/301736\/breaking-the-curse-of-words-part-2","player_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-player\/301736\/breaking-the-curse-of-words-part-2","audio_player":null,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/familylife-today\/id212174303?mt=2&app=podcast","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0j5UaKdQOHQCuo1bt0ebEm","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"youtube":{"key":"youtube","url":"","label":"YouTube","class":"youtube","icon":"youtube.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/feed\/podcast\/familylife-today","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"1QaL7UO6Jv\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/breaking-the-curse-of-words-part-2\/\">Breaking the Curse of Words, Part 2<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/breaking-the-curse-of-words-part-2\/embed\/#?secret=1QaL7UO6Jv\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;Breaking the Curse of Words, Part 2&#8221; &#8212; FamilyLife\u00ae - A Cru Ministry\" data-secret=\"1QaL7UO6Jv\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var 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you?","meta_box":{"show_notes":"","transcript_url":"https:\/\/transcript.familylifetoday.com\/fl2008-12-30.pdf","transcript_content":"<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> As hard as it is to imagine, something said in a moment, even passing, can wind up having a profound impact on another person's life.\u00a0 If someone else's words have left a scar on your soul, how can you break the curse of words?\u00a0 Here is counsel from Dr. Tom Elliff.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Tom:<\/strong> God has given every one of us, as believers, some very powerful tools, weapons, if you will, with which we can break the curse of words.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe first thing the Lord gives us is His Word.\u00a0 The Word of God is absolute authority.\u00a0 It is true truth \u2013 you shall know the truth, and \"The truth,\" the Lord Jesus said, \"will make you free.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> This is FamilyLife Today for Tuesday, December 30th.\u00a0 Our host is the president of FamilyLife, Dennis Rainey, and I'm Bob Lepine.\u00a0 We'll find out today how the truth of God's Word can undo the damage that's been done by someone else's words from long ago.\u00a0 Stay tuned.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd welcome to FamilyLife Today, thanks for joining us on the Tuesday edition.\u00a0 I was listening to a message, I don't know, this was a number of months ago, from a pastor who lives on the East Coast, and he was talking about the power of encouraging words, especially as he works with his pastoral staff and with people in his church.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd I remember the phrase he used as he was talking about it.\u00a0 He talked about recognizing and pointing out evidences of grace in someone else's life.\u00a0 He talked about going up to a person and say, \"You know, I just want to point out an evidence of grace, God's grace, that I have seen in your life.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd I really liked what he was saying, because he was saying you want to encourage another person without puffing them up.\u00a0 What you're really pointing them to is the fact that God is at work in their life, so you're glorifying God and encouraging them at the same time by talking about these evidences of grace.\u00a0 And I thought that's a great word, because we all do need the encouragement, we all need to know that somebody else is recognizing our growth and that God is at work in our lives, and they're seeing the fruit of that.\u00a0 That's encouraging when we get that kind of affirmation from another person, especially when it comes from a spouse.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> Yeah, in fact, I think it's one of a wife's greatest needs \u2013 appreciation.\u00a0 Many times, with Barbara, it's not that I provide the answer to her problems, it's not even that I listen to her problems \u2013 now, this is what baffles me, Bob, as a man, because you'd think, as a man, you've got it figured out that what she needs from me is to listen.\u00a0 And about the time I get to that sense of security that I've got it nailed, she moves on to a new level of understanding, and she blows me away, and she wants me to appreciate her \u2013 appreciate her.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd, you know what?\u00a0 I don't appreciate my wife nearly enough for all she does, and I certainly did not appreciate her enough for all she did when we had six children in 10 years, and I drug her all over the United States, and we were speaking at stuff and leaving and taking the kids with us in the car, and, I mean, you know, my wife needed a Purple Heart.\u00a0 She needed some kind of decoration on her behalf for just an expression of appreciation.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> Well, during that time, you and she wrote the book, \"Building Your Mate's Self-Esteem,\" and I remember you saying in there that we need to praise specifically when we praise another person; we need to praise wisely and truthfully \u2026\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> Right.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> And then we need to praise generously \u2013 not be stingy with praising another person.\u00a0 One of the reasons we need to praise our mate is because, stuck in our minds, are all of the things people have said throughout the years that have been negative that we've hung onto and that have influenced and shaped our behavior.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> You know, Bob, we have a home that is \u2013 Barbara and I have created some gardens, and they're not lavish gardens.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> They've very nice.\u00a0 We've been out and seen them \u2013 all the day lilies.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> We've given you some day lilies, that's right, and we \u2013 the boys and I, when I was younger and when they had strong backs, built some paths just around the edge of the gardens, and we put pea gravel, real small, about the size of a pea \u2013 gravel so that we could walk around these gardens and look at them.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd Barbara and I began to notice that the paths would get weeds in them.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> Sure.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> And so every spring, I would go to the nursery, and I would buy a little $7 sack of this wicked smelly stuff that you put into a spreader, and you would just walk along those trails and spread this stuff and you know what?\u00a0 It kept the weeds from growing.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tNow, I've thought about that many times, and I've thought, wouldn't it be wonderful in a marriage, if you could start a marriage out much like you start the spring, with some kind of spiritual word herbicide that kept negative words and all the chatter that can occur in the marriage that cuts \u2013 where we cut one another down and eliminate the weeds from growing and instead have the ability to plant those good seeds in the gardens so that you walk on the paths, weed free, enjoying the blossoms and the beauty of God's creation.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBut, in marriage, unfortunately we don't spread enough of that herbicide that keeps the negative words down, and we don't certainly plant enough good seeds, and the flower seeds, praise and appreciation, in our spouse.\u00a0 That's what we need to be doing today.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> Yeah, and we've already heard this week in part 1 of this message from Tom Elliff about what we can do in one another's lives to try to uproot some of those weeds that have sprouted up along the way in our children's lives or in our spouse's lives, how we can undo some of the damage that's been done.\u00a0 In fact, Tom talked about what they'd done, as a family, around the dinner table, and it's the kind of exercise that, really, any family can do.\u00a0 Our listeners may want to listen back to yesterday's program, they can find it on our website, FamilyLifeToday.com, and part 1 of the message is available there.\u00a0 There is also a transcript of part 1 there as well.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBut in this second half of the message, Tom talks about how we can control our tongues under the power of the Holy Spirit and how we can use our tongues for good and not for evil.\u00a0 Let's listen together to part 2 of this message from Dr. Tom Elliff.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Tom:<\/strong> [from audiotape.]\u00a0 It occurred to me, as I was driving home late that evening, that God has given every one of us, as believers, some very powerful tools, weapons, if you will, with which we can break the curse of words.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe first thing the Lord gives us is His Word.\u00a0 \"They overcame him by the Word of the Lord, the word of their testimony.\"\u00a0 The Word of God is absolute authority.\u00a0 It is true truth \u2013 \"You shall know the truth, and the truth,\" the Lord Jesus said, \"will make you free.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd so I began to line up these five statements, which I had heard and just believed without question that \"I'll never,\" or \"I can't,\" or \"I will always.\"\u00a0 I began to line them up next to the Word of God, and I asked about each of these statements.\u00a0 Does God \u2013 is there anyplace in God's Word that says \"That's true about me?\"\u00a0 But, do you know that I could not think of anyplace in the Word of God where it validated any of those statements.\u00a0 And so on the authority of the word of God, I began to break the curse of each of those statements.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWell, the second thing the Lord gives us is His Name \u2013 the name of Jesus, which is above every name, the Bible says.\u00a0 There's an interesting passage of Scripture in Romans 8, verse 29 says that God is working to do what?\u00a0 To conform us to the image of His dear Son.\u00a0 He is making us Christlike.\u00a0 He is working within us both the will and to do of His good pleasure, the Scripture says. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd so I asked this second question \u2013 of each of these five statements, here was the question \u2013 is this consistent with the character of God?\u00a0 Is this consistent with Christ?\u00a0 Is He this way?\u00a0 Does He always have to do this?\u00a0 Is He bound to be this?\u00a0 Is this what Jesus is going to do?\u00a0 If not, then I can break the curse of those words in Jesus' name because I know He is at work, by His spirit, making me like Himself.\u00a0 I am being conformed to His image.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd so He is at work to refute those \u2013 to contradict those, to do away with the damage those words are doing in my life.\u00a0 So on the authority of God's Word, and now in the name of Jesus I broke the curse of those words.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWell, I think you're ahead of me.\u00a0 You probably can already imagine the third of those weapons that He gives us, and that's His blood, the blood of Jesus.\u00a0 I asked this question relative to the blood of Jesus \u2013 I asked this question of each of those five statements \u2013 Is this a sinful characteristic that was not covered in the atonement?\u00a0 Did this somehow escape the atoning work of Christ?\u00a0 Because, if not, it was covered \u2013 if not, God has given me power to be cleansed of it; to be free from it.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd so on the authority of the Word of God and in the name of Jesus and because of what His shed blood represents on the cross of Calvary, His pouring out of His life so that I might be cleansed from all sin, I broke the curse of each of those statements.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tNow, I don't have time this morning to tell you about all of those statements.\u00a0 I wish I did.\u00a0 Let me just say this \u2013 they are so innocuous that I hear them often from other people, the \"you'll never\" people \u2013 the \"You'll nevers\" or \"He'll always,\" \"Well, he can't.\"\u00a0 I thought I was smart enough to get by those.\u00a0 I thought, \"Well, you're a healthy Christian, Tom, you're a big boy.\u00a0 You're mature, those are stupid things.\u00a0 Just bow your neck and don't be that way,\" and it seems that the harder I tried and the more I bowed my neck and gritted my teeth, the more I was fulfilling the very statements that I hated, because you become like what you think about.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBut that night in the car on the authority of the Word of God, in the name of Jesus who is conforming me to His image, and because of the shed of blood of Jesus, which overcomes all sin, I broke the curse of those words.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThat night, when I sat with my family, we joined hands around the table.\u00a0 My future son-in-law was with us.\u00a0 He also said, \"Boy, I bear the brunt of that.\"\u00a0 Some of the things that were said to him grow up \u2013 and we bowed our heads and, one at a time, on the authority of God's Word in the name of Jesus because of the shed blood of Jesus, we broke the curse of those words.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI can't tell you the freedom and the exuberance that came to my heart and to my family.\u00a0 As a matter of fact, to this very day, if someone says something careless or negative, the other one is liable to retort, \"Curse of words, curse of words,\" and we stop and say, \"You know, that's true, that's true, that could be very harmful, that could be very hurtful.\"\u00a0 We can use our words to bless, to build up, to say positive things about people, but I've never met anyone who hasn't, in some way, had to deal with the curse of words.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tA couple of weeks later I was on my way to speak in Arkansas, and I stopped by Tulsa to pick up a friend of mine, a fellow minister who is just like a brother to me, and he had relatives over in that area, and we were going to go visit them, and we were driving along, and I was telling him about the revival.\u00a0 I said, \"My family is living in a state of revival.\"\u00a0 I said, \"I cannot tell you what God has done in my heart, in my life, over the past several weeks.\"\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd I began to tell him about this curse of words, which, you know, it just became sort of the statement by which we used to designate this issue, and I said, \"Well, you know, let me just tell you what God's been showing me.\"\u00a0 Well, it got real quiet in the car, and he began to look out the window and had this distant, pensive look, and he turned to me, and he said, \"I've got one of those, and it's about to kill me.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI said, \"Oh, come on.\"\u00a0 He said, \"No, Tom,\" he said, \"it really is.\"\u00a0 And the more I thought about it, the more I thought about the truth of his statement.\u00a0 He said, \"You know, I've been pastoring now for well over 30 years,\" and he said, \"Our family has never taken a full two-week vacation in all that time.\"\u00a0 He said, \"As a matter of fact, I can think of a few times when we've been gone on a one-week vacation that I didn't stop everything, drive back to do a funeral or to do a wedding or to go speak at a banquet.\"\u00a0 You know, he said \"I get to the church early,\" he said, \"I stay late,\" he said, \"I work seven days a week at the church, I'm always there,\" and he said, \"As you know, I've got some serious physical problems as a result of it.\u00a0 As a matter of fact,\" he said, \"You know, I've been in the hospital hemorrhaging blood on five different occasions, some of those occasions right at the point of death.\"\u00a0 He said, \"I've had to come back from vacations having lost so much blood,\" he said, \"they've put me in the hospital to give me unit after unit after unit of blood.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd he said, \"I never thought about it, but you know something?\u00a0 I know when all that began.\"\u00a0 He said, \"I was going to Washita Baptist University, associate pastor of a little church in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.\"\u00a0 He said, \"They cleaned out a little broom closet and gave it to me as an office \u2013 first staff member they'd ever had.\"\u00a0 He said, \"And the preacher was really well liked across Arkansas.\u00a0 He was traveling here and there all across the state,\" and he said \"one morning, I just happened to be at the office early, I was sitting there in my little broom closet,\" and he said, \"there were two secretaries who came in.\"\u00a0 He said, \"They had absolutely no idea that I was there, but I was listening to every word they said.\"\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd he said, \"One secretary said to the other, 'Well, where's Brother so-and-so,' referring to the pastor, and she said, 'Well, you know, as it says in Job, running to and fro throughout the whole earth.\u00a0 I have no idea where he is.'\"\u00a0 He said, \"The other secretary then said, 'Well, I'll tell you this about Brother'\" \u2013 and she called his name.\u00a0 'He doesn't know a thing in the world about preaching, but at least he's always here.'\"\u00a0 And he said, \"Tom, now that I think about it, I have been driven by that statement.\u00a0 All of my life I have thought I don't have much to contribute in the way of preaching,\" \u2013 and the guy is an incredible preacher and student of the Word of God \u2013 brilliant communicator \u2013 but he said, \"All of my life I've labored under the misconception I don't know much about preaching.\u00a0 The only thing that gives me value in the ministry is to always be there even if it kills you and even if it destroys your family life.\"\u00a0 He said, \"That's got to change, doesn't it?\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd there in that car he broke the curse of those words.\u00a0 I can tell you, he's a very healthy person with a very healthy family having an incredible ministry right now in another state and wakes up with joy every morning excited about the ministry that God has allowed him to perform.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tNow, you know, you may not have something like that in your life.\u00a0 Maybe nobody ever said anything to you about the way you looked or the way you acted or what you could do or what you couldn't do or what you'd never be able to accomplish.\u00a0 Maybe you'd never say anything like that to anyone else, you know, there's another flip side to this that you ought to consider relative to your own children, the folks in your own family, your wife, your husband.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tLike I say, the curse that comes through these negative statements, in many instances, would not affect that husband or that wife or those children or even you, but it's the moment, and it's the messenger that gives them such impact.\u00a0 Coming from a father or from a mother or from a husband or from a wife or from a child or from a boss or from a pastor at just the right moment it can be a deadly poison.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> Well, that's a sober reminder from Tom Elliff that should challenge us today, Dennis, to be on guard, to watch our words, and to be very careful because things that we let slip out, we can go back and say, \"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it,\" but the damage is done.\u00a0 It's kind of like James says, \"You light a fire, you go back later and say, 'Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it,' and the house has still burned down.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> Mm-hm, that's exactly right.\u00a0 You know, I've got a very simple assignment.\u00a0 I had one yesterday, I'm going to have another one today, it's very simple.\u00a0 I want you to get a piece of paper and, before the lights go out tonight, even if it's only a paragraph, I want you to write just a brief note of love, appreciation, affirmation, and praise to your spouse, and if you're not married, you're a single parent, write one to your mom, your dad, if they're living, or your child.\u00a0 But use these moments that have been stimulated by what Tom has talked about here, to take some good words and pen them \u2013 put them in writing, and then maybe take the time to deposit them in an envelope and even lick the envelope and put the other person's name on the front that you're going to give it to, and then just put it on their pillow.\u00a0 Just leave it there, and resist the urge to go give it to them and just let them find it.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd, Bob, I think we underestimate the power of just a few positive words.\u00a0 In fact, the Proverbs tells us, it says, \"Anxiety of the heart weighs it down, but a good word makes it glad.\"\u00a0 Not a good sentence, not a good paragraph, not a good chapter, not even a good book \u2013 just a good word can lift it.\u00a0 It can make it glad, and I think it certainly ought to be one of our assignments in marriage and in Christian family to be using good words to lift those that are around us rather than sink them with our words.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> Yeah, and I think it's good to hear someone like Tom speak to this issue to kind of pull our sights up and help us see how it's possible to sin with our tongue against another person.\u00a0 You know, I think back to a book we've talked about here on FamilyLife Today by Paul David Tripp.\u00a0 It's called \"War of Words,\" and it's a great book to help us see the variety of ways in which our tongue can lead us into sin, and in a marriage relationship I think that's particularly true.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe've got copies of Paul's book in our FamilyLife Resource Center, and I would encourage our listeners, especially those of us who may need to make a New Year's resolution on an issue like this \u2013 get a copy of the book, \"War of Words\" by Paul David Tripp.\u00a0 You can go to our website, FamilyLifeToday.com, and the information you need is right there.\u00a0 You can order the book online from us, if you'd like.\u00a0 Again, it's FamilyLifeToday.com or call 1-800-FLTODAY and someone on our team can make arrangements to have a copy of Paul's book sent to you.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThere is also information on our website about the book that you and your wife, Barbara, wrote a number of years ago called \"Building Your Mate's Self-Esteem,\" which is just and practical and relevant today as it was when the book first came out.\u00a0 It helps coach us, as husbands and wives, about how we can encourage and build up and affirm one another.\u00a0 You know, the Bible talks about all of the things we're supposed to do \u2013 all of these \"one anothers\" in the Christian life, and you really apply that in the marriage relationship in your book, \"Building Your Mate's Self-Esteem,\" and that's available from our FamilyLife Resource Center as well.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tGo to our website, FamilyLifeToday.com, and the information you need about both books is available there.\u00a0 You can order online again, or you can call 1-800-F-as-in-family, L-as-in-life, and then the word TODAY and make arrangements to have either or both of those books sent to you.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tLet me also take just a minute here, Dennis, to remind our listeners that today and tomorrow are the last two days, the last two opportunities you have to make a year-end contribution to the ministry of FamilyLife Today.\u00a0 Many of you have already done that, and we appreciate your financial support.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe are hoping and praying that we will be able to take full advantage of the very generous matching gift that was made available to us back at the beginning of December.\u00a0 We had friends who said that they would match every donation we receive here at the end of the year up to a total of $425,000 on a dollar-for-dollar basis, and today and tomorrow are the last two opportunities folks have to contribute toward that special matching gift opportunity. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo if you can, go to our website, FamilyLifeToday.com, or call 1-800-FLTODAY and make a donation over the phone.\u00a0 We would appreciate it.\u00a0 We know this has been a challenging year for many of you.\u00a0 It has been a challenging year for us financially as well, and we've had to make some adjustments here at FamilyLife in response to that, and we want to continue to be good stewards of the funds that are entrusted to us, and we're hopeful that if there is any way possible, you can make whatever donation you can make, again, either today or tomorrow.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYou can donate online at FamilyLifeToday.com or you can call 1-800-FLTODAY and make your donation over the phone.\u00a0 Help us take advantage of this special matching gift opportunity, and we do hope to hear from you, and I want to say thanks in advance for whatever you are able to do by way of supporting the ministry of FamilyLife Today.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWell, tomorrow we are going to spend some time with the Galloping Gourmet.\u00a0 I don't know how many of our listeners remember that classic television show from a number of years ago, but Graham and Treena Kerr are going to be with us tomorrow, and they're going to tell us a little bit about how they have approached the subject of New Year's resolutions in a rather interesting way in their home.\u00a0 That comes up tomorrow, and I hope you can be with us for that.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI want to thank our engineer today, Keith Lynch, and our entire broadcast production team.\u00a0 On behalf of our host, Dennis Rainey, I'm Bob Lepine.\u00a0 We'll see you back tomorrow for another edition of FamilyLife Today. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tFamilyLife Today is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas \u2013 help for today; hope for tomorrow.\u00a0\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t_______________________________________________________________\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe are so happy to provide these transcripts for you. However, there is a cost to transcribe, create, and produce them for our website. If you've benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider <a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/donate\">donating today<\/a> to help defray the costs?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tCopyright \u00a9 FamilyLife. All rights reserved.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>www.FamilyLife.com<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>","theme_header_position":"","post_header_is_sticky":"","is_header_overlay":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast\/301736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/podcast"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301736"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301736"},{"taxonomy":"podcast_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast_series?post=301736"},{"taxonomy":"cwp_profile","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cwp_profile?post=301736"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=301736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}