A couple of weeks ago we started a series titled Overtime. The purpose of the series was to talk about the time we spend as parents with our children. It’s been said that a parent has about 940 weeks with their children before they graduate from high school and move off to college. So the issue we face is how do we intentionally use the time we have to have the longest lasting impact possible on our children? 

Last week we discussed how love over time builds worth and value into our children. The synopsis is simple. The more we intentionally love on our children in a variety of ways, the more value they see in themselves. So love your children well no matter how much time is left because love over time builds value.

This week we focus on words over time. We say a lot of things as parents. We tell our children to make their beds, chew quietly, don’t interrupt, be polite and the list goes on and on. But what do these words do over a long period of time?

Words over time give direction. Share on X

There’s a great proverb about this in the bible. It goes like this:

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6 

How do we, as parents and guardians, intentionally speak words into our children? What are the words that have the power to clearly impact their lives for the better? Here are a few things we can do to help nurture the power of spoken words in our children’s lives.

  • Expectations. Giving direction and telling your children what to do and how to do it is important. I do, maybe too often, tell my children what I need them to do. I have high expectations and I try to communicate them as clearly as possible. There’s nothing like someone expecting something of you and not telling you their expectations!
  • Questions. Another important aspect of words comes in the form of questions. It’s easy to give answers. When my children ask me questions, I have to think before giving an answer. I don’t like to just kick an answer. Often the questions they ask, they truly know the answer to already. Don’t be so quick to shout out an answer. There’s power in the question. Let them wrestle with it for a while.
  • Consistent. If words over time are going to give direction, then we have to be consistent with our words. We can’t be saying one thing in one context and another thing entirely in a different context. Think through your words. Give them consideration before you let them off your tongue.
Make sure that the words you speak today will be the ones you want them to remember tomorrow. Share on X

The long and short of this section on words is give your words thought  before you speak them. Your children are listening and your words today will become their actions tomorrow.