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23 May 2011
(Hold up a box of Nerds in your hand. While you are talking, open the box and hand out some Nerds.)
Ephesians 4:29, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." (NIV)
Take Home Point : Do not use your words to put people down. Use your words to build people up.
When I was a kid there was a saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” We would say this as a form of defense when another kid said something mean to us. Kids can be pretty mean sometimes. They can say some really mean things. Words like, “You’re ugly,” “You’re stupid,” “You’re a geek,” “You’re a nerd.” Sometimes kids will label you according to the clique you are in.
We had the jocks, the nerds and the freaks. These were all negative words designed to put people down. God tells us to only use our words to build people up. It is really easy to join in with the mean kids and put other kids down, but as Christians we should be different. Just because it seems like everybody is doing it, it doesn’t mean that we should do it too.
When I said the rhyme, “Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me,” it was 
always in defense of something mean that someone just said to me. The truth is words do hurt. It grieves the Holy Spirit when we say words that put other kids down, because they are God’s kids too. Don’t join in with the crowd. When you hear kids call other kids names like “Nerds” choose to say kind words. Think of something nice to say to the kid that everybody is picking on and share your Nerds with him like I am sharing my Nerds with you.