Have you ever noticed that we can be encouraged by someone's words at one moment, and then utterly discouraged the next?

One parent may celebrate with a child who comes home with an 80 percent on a test. However, the other parent may ask what happened to the remaining 20.

Your boss may discipline you for the way you handled a customer, but a co-worker may empathize with you over how hard the customer was.

One teacher may point out all of the things a student is doing wrong, whereas another may celebrate all of the ways they are succeeding.

In my own journey, I am deeply grieved to admit that I have sometimes been the person who discouraged people with my words. I don't like to acknowledge it, but I have in my past, and I likely will in my future. It's not what I want to do, and I daily strive to be an encouragement to those around me, but I am human.

God's Word says that with our words we can bless or curse (James 3:9). Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit (Proverbs 18:21).

Did you know that we have an example of how to use our words to encourage the hopes and dreams of those around us?

In the Bible, Judges chapter 6 tells the historical account of Gideon threshing and hiding wheat in a winepress. He should have been threshing it in an open field but he was afraid of the Midianite army that was coming. During this time, God sent an angel to him who said, "Mighty hero, the Lord is with you."

I imagine Gideon being very frightened to be hiding in a winepress. But during this time God used an angel to speak words of encouragement to him-to build up his spirit and soul and encourage him to be who he was created to be.

I know what it is to be discouraged and crushed by others' words. And I also know what it is to be lifted up and encouraged by them. I have also seen the impact of my own words in others' lives, both as a blessing and as discouragement. Only by the grace and mercy of our Lord does he continue to give me opportunities to use my words to bless and encourage.

"Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!"

-Psalm 141:3

Krystal Wawryzniak and her husband, Todd, serve the Lord by serving as Indian Life Ministries' director team.