As a Compassion Blogger, I get the privilege of writing a post each month, directing readers tot he needs of hurting children around the world. Wes Stafford, Compassion International’s president, recently wrote a book titled “Just a Minute.” In it he talks about the fact that it only takes a moment for someone to impact a child’s life for the better.

I think we all have stories of times in our life where one statement impacted our lives-for good or bad. I remember well comments made by relatives about my looks and personality. These comments, probably spoken in the hopes of changing me in some way, planted themselves deep. They grew increasingly, like weeds, and took over my heart. They tried to choke any positive statements that attempted to make a way into my heart. As the years past, they developed into lies that whisper frequently in my heart. At times, they build to shouts that reverberate in my mind, telling me, “You’re not lovable”, “You’re not good at anything”, “Ugly” and “What’s wrong with you?”

As a psychotherapist, I can also testify that the more negative comments a child receives, it will become deeply woven into the fabric of who they are. The DNA of a person’s personality is shaped throughout childhood. It’s those tender years of youth that matter most to the healthy emotional growth of a person.

In the years I provided counseling to children, I found even those quite young had wounds already etched deep in their heart from words spoken by members of their family. I sadly remember one teen boy who asked me, “Why do you even try? There is nothing you can do to change him. He will always be abusive. That’s just the way things are.” This teen, so used to verbal tirades and abusive criticism, once told me that I was “too nice.” It is a horrible tragedy when kindness and compassion from a therapist is so unfamiliar, it is rejected as “too nice.”

Take a moment to watch this video clip from Wes Stafford. I hope that you come away challenged to encourage and build up any little eternal soul that crosses your path.

Perhaps you have a story of spoken words that impacted you-positively or negatively-that you’d like to share?