Words of life? Or words of death.

This is something that's been on my heart for a while now. It's the matter of words.

Take yourself back with me to a time. A time when maybe you were with your friends, maybe you were with family, wherever you were, someone found something to pick on about you and it seemed everyone and their mother decided it would be hilarious to laugh and pick on you. Maybe you just laughed it off as no big deal, or maybe you showed hurt then. Either way, you remembered it. And it could've been about something that no one had ever mentioned before, or it could've been something you've had to deal with your entire life. Go to another time. A time where someone just said a passing comment that seemed to be unnoticed, but you remembered. And it ate at you, and made you feel unimportant or shot down.

Now go back one more time. To a time when something like that happened, but instead, one person said one little thing. Maybe it was huge, maybe it was a passing comment. But that one thing made you for once feel like not everyone was pitted against you. That one comment showed that at least one person didn't feel the need to pick on you for something and stood up for you.

These are what I call words of life or death. Because listen. It's things like this, that slowly, over time, really get to you. You may think that whatever you said was no big deal...they laughed it off! They'll be ok! But that could've been the 100th time that person heard that that day, or the 1st of 100 times they'll hear it this week. And it adds up. Quickly, slowly, either way. It adds. And maybe, just maybe, that 100th time was the straw that broke the camel's back. It was the last time that person ever wanted to hear that said again, so to solve the problem, they do something drastic. From not talking to people, to hiding in a mask, even to the extreme…killing themselves. You may be saying, oh c'mon on Rachael…aren't you being a little extreme? NO! Just think about it for a minute! Think about when you've felt that way!

So this is my challenge. Are you going to choose to be the person that goes against? That stands up for someone, or encourages them instead of bringing them down?

Are you going to speak words of life, or words of death?

God knows something I don't….

…and you say "well DUH Rachael.." But how often do we forget?

Francis Chan is definitely one of my favorite writers. PLEASE take the time to watch this.

what am i thinking? art major??? yeah good one rachael. you're gonna die.

My God is bigger than the "realities" of this life. If He wants it done, He'll do it.

I. JUST. WANNA. BE. DONE.

"I don't want be adored

Don't want to be first in line

Or make myself heard

I'd like to bring a little light

To shine a light on your life

To make you feel loved"

-Keane

I must forgive because He forgave me.

I must love, because He loves me.

Rebel.

I know in our day, 'rebel' means 'sinner'.
But everyone is sinning, so it's no longer rebellious to sin!
Jesus was a rebel who was counter-cultural.

You're just a conformist if you're drunk and naked, and driving around on a motorcycle, smoking cigarettes and breaking commandments and getting pregnant out of wedlock.

Everyone's done that!

That's so tired.

If you really want to be a rebel, read your Bible, because no one's doing that.

That's rebellion.

That's the only rebellion left!

-Rebel, Lecrae