I keep hearing this phrase “speaking over” someone. And before you jump to conclusions, it is not what I do on a regular basis when someone else is talking. In the most traditional of senses it’s the rude interjection to essentially cover up what someone else is trying to say.
The phrase in the context that I have heard it recently has much more to do with talking about people. I know I posted about gossip yesterday and today I’m still on this talking about people thing but it bears duplicating posts.
When you speak a something you know about a person, those words contain power. Studies have shown in the past that a teachers expectation of a student, to some degree, can dictate that particular students achievements. If you treat them as if they are a success waiting to happen, they are statistically more likely to be successful. And the converse is true. People will generally rise, or fall, to the level your expectations.
How does that connect?
If we “speak over” a person as to their inability to do certain things, they may never attain the ability to do those things because the power in our words has influenced them about their own abilities.
If we “speak over” them about their ability to do succeed at something, they just might achieve it. This sounds an awful lot like a high school motivational speaker, and maybe this is what it is. But as a people and as a church we have to be very aware of the things we say about people. Much more than gossip, truthful matters can be harmful.
Someones misdeeds of their past can quickly become their future if we tell them thats exactly who they are. If we take a minute to realize that those misdeeds should not characterize them throughout the rest of their lives, we might be less likely to label them as such.
We should take a moment to ban the words disorganized, jerk, know-it-all, sarcastic, dumb, etc. from daily use. We should keep them out of our mouths daily. Our words can become someones direction.
