Godly Gals – Real Women, Real Life, Real Faith: Power of a Parent’s Words by Kate Battistelli

No job on earth compares to preparing the next generation. Our responsibility is huge, hard and glorious. God gives us wet cement; our job? Make an imprint that will last a lifetime.

“Sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me.” Could anything be further from the truth? Words have incredible power in fact, Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue and those who love it will eat it’s fruit.” I firmly believe the spoken word is the creative word and what we say has a huge impact on the future.

Did you notice in Genesis how God created the world? With a word. “God said…..and there was…” When Francesca was little we tried an experiment. Here’s an excerpt from my book, Growing Great Kids:

“We’d lost a key in the front yard and we honestly couldn’t find it. We searched everywhere to no avail. Franny really wanted to help us so we told her, “Go ahead and look. You are a really good finder.” Well, she helped us look for awhile and wouldn’t you know it, she found the key! She was so excited and we were thrilled! Anytime anything got lost, we reinforced what a good finder she was and more often than not, she would find the lost item. In this small way, we set her up in a pattern of belief about herself and it became a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

What this little experiment taught us is this: Children believe everything you say about them. Mom and Dad are the authority in their little lives and our words form the bedrock of how they think of themselves. Positive and uplifting words lay a firm foundation but harsh and critical words can damage their destiny and guarantee a toxic future.

If you are a single parent struggling to make ends meet, here’s a little tip from me to you: Words are FREE! They don’t cost a thing but imagine that each word, each time of encouraging, uplifting, believing in who God created your precious little one to be you are building a firm foundation of belief that they can change the world! As you speak words of life, you are speaking destiny and purpose into their spirits.

So, call out the good gifts and traits you see in them. Speak life and purpose over them. Remind them they were created for a purpose and God has a unique destiny for them. Remind them that they are world-changers and if you do that consistently, they will be!

Kate Battistelli is a wife, speaker, author, former Broadway actress, and mom to one of Christian Music’s most celebrated artists–Grammy-nominated, Christian Contemporary singer-songwriter Francesca Battistelli. Kate volunteers at Esther Single Mother’s Outreach and writes about faith, family and food at www.KateBattistelli.com. She is thoroughly enjoying her new role as grandmother to Francesca’s first child, Matthew Elijah.