Have you ever seen children playing and one throws a sarcastic comment at another. Sometimes that child gives as good as they’ve just received, which usually starts a dispute, but often you’ll see a pained look in the eyes of the child receiving the sarcasm.
Perhaps you know a teenage child who has started feeling embarrassed about spending time with their parents because friends at school mock them. As adults we have grown accustomed to hearing sarcasm bantered around as if it was an acceptable way to communicate. Sarcasm is in all reality not humorous, but is expression of negative and undercutting declarations. Frequently if these are directed at us personally, we pretend that these cutting remarks do not affect us, whether they are said in the name of humor, or are intentionally undermining. But in reality ‘sarcasm is the lowest form of wit’. The truth is that, ‘although sticks and stones may break our bones, words can also harm us!’
Sarcasm is derived from the Greek word “sarkazo”, meaning “to tear flesh”. Sarcasm can be very harmful if we give sanction to it in our lives. It tears down a person’s self worth and self esteem, and belittles and stops our growth in the area it’s directed towards. If we accept negative remarks from anyone, be it friend or foe, as being true, they can stay with us for life. Sarcastic words can develop into injunctions that affect our core value system and can influence our belief about who we are and what we can and cannot do with our lives.
This is why it is important to be aware not only of who we allow to speak into our lives, but what they are saying and how they are saying it. Is it positive or negative? Does it foster growth or stunt growth? Is it life giving or does it bring about death? One way to check if a cutting remark has ‘hit home’, is whether we can hear the comment repeating itself in our minds. The truth is that we have the power to silence these remarks and eliminate the effect they have had on us. We do this by speaking positive truths about ourselves, as affirmations, based on the word of God.
As people have a tendency to resist change, we need to be aware of any negativity resident in us, and determine not to allow it to stay, but to embark on a journey of transforming ourselves and our minds to become who God ordained us to be.
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