Heal and Bless or Hurt and Poison

I remember reading in the book "Heart of the Artist" by Rory Noland this statement regarding our speech and how we treat others: "Everyone has the opportunity to either Heal and Bless or Hurt and Poison". This quote comes to mind with regards to my recent attitude and speech.

Today I asked myself the question, "Are people encouraged after talking to you or do they leave feeling worse about whatever you talked about?"

I think I used to be primarily an encourager. But sadly, through this last season of my life I'm afraid that I've become way too comfortable pointing out the negative side of things, whether it's a situation that's directly related to me or not. I absolutely despise the thought that when someone walks away from a conversation with me they are more frustrated or discouraged about whatever we talked about. Depending on how close of a friend they are, they may not feel directly frustrated or discouraged with me personally. It may just be that they feel worse about things in general.

Either way, I don't want to be the guy that does that to people. I want to be the guy that encourages people to where they leave having more hope than when they showed up. Especially as a leader, I MUST be more conscious of my words.

This is just part of my Marco Polo game with God. I hear Him respond to my Marco...now I must act. If I just stand in the deep end and don't move. I'll stay in the deep end with my eyes closed.

God, thank you for not giving up on me.
Johnny