Your words leave marks—some heal, some hurt. Choose to speak with patience and gentleness, planting life instead of scars. Let your words today reflect God’s heart.
There was a 12-year-old boy with a temper that ran hotter than he could control.
His father, hoping to help, handed him a bag of nails and said:
“Every time you lose your temper, hammer one nail into the fence.”
The boy didn’t think much of it. Until a few days later, when he hammered 37 nails.
His anger echoed through the backyard with each strike.
But slowly, as the days passed, something changed.
The number of nails dropped. First to twenty… then ten… then three.
And finally, one day came when he didn’t lose his temper at all.
Proud, he ran to tell his father.
And his father smiled and said, “Good. Now, each day you hold your temper, pull out one nail.”
It took time, but eventually the boy returned and said, “Dad, they’re all gone.”
The father took him outside, pointed to the fence, and said:
“You did well. But look at the holes…
These scars will never fully disappear.
That’s what angry words do.
You can say sorry, you can try to fix it, but the mark remains.”
The boy just stared. And suddenly, he understood.
They say, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”
I think this is wrong.
Broken bones heal stronger, but words can linger, fester, and continue to wound.
Scripture reminds us: “The tongue has the power of life and death.” (Proverbs 18:21)
Every sentence we speak is a seed. It grows something, either healing or hurt.
Someone needs encouragement today.
Someone needs gentleness.
Someone needs patience.
Someone needs to know you care.
And you have the power to give it.
So before you speak today, pause and ask:
“Am I about to leave a scar…or plant something that heals?”
You can’t remove every nail you’ve hammered in your past.
But you can decide that the words you speak from here on will build, not break.
Choose gentleness.Choose patience.Choose words that bless.
