What have you put into someone's heart today?

Words are so interesting and powerful.  We use them for such a variety of reasons.  To inform, to command, to instruct, to rebuke, to hide, to share our heart, to help, and unfortunately, sometimes to hurt.  As a doctor, I have my own language.  In theology we have our own language. Even in the ‘church’ we have our own language.

As we have been progressing through these weeks of Kiswahili language study we have been learning how easy it is to say things in a variety of ways.  I suppose it is the same in English.  Sometimes you just flat out say what you want to say. But usually, we say things the polite way, or at least in a little less harsh way.

Today, Sally and I had the assignment to each prepare a Bible story to narrate, and a Bible study to teach.  Our language and culture supervisor was here with us to offer encouragement and to add to the instruction of our teacher.  We had both finished presenting our stories and I had shared my lesson. Sally was on the next to the last sentence of her lesson when we entered into a discussion on how important and common it was for Tanzanians to encourage one another.  It is an essential part of their culture.  In her lesson, Sally was ending with a ‘challenge’ for the student.  In English the word “challenge” works (to invite someone to do something that will be difficult or challenging), but in Swahili, the corresponding word ‘changamoto’ doesn’t work. It means challenge, but in a negative way. Sally was wanting to encourage the student to memorize Scripture.   Turns out the verb she needed to use in Swahili is -tia moyo.  Literally ‘to put into the heart’ meaning to encourage.

I really like that.
Some other ways it can be said is:
Tutiane moyo – “Let’s encourage one another.” Used when a group or family are facing some difficult situation.
Umenitia moyo – “You have encourage me”
Jipe moyo – “Encourage yourself”

That discussion naturally led to the other phrases used in Swahili like:

Usikate tamaa, jipe moyo – don’t lose heart, encourage yourself  (tamaa = desire)
Umenivunja moyo – you have broken my heart
Umekatisha tamaa – you have lost desire
Amekata tamaa – he has given up hope

Then we got into the ways to say that a person has died.  Much like English, Swahili has blunt, polite, and more polite ways to say things. You can probably tell which is which.

Hayupo hai – he is not here alive
Amefariki dunia – he has died earth (really hard to translate this one but common)
Hatupo naye tena – we are not with him again
Tumemkosa – we have missed him
Ametukimbia – he has run from us
Amekufa – he has died (least polite)

I am sure that there are other phrases like this that I will learn when we get to Kigoma Baptist Hospital and begin working.

So back to the topic of this blog.  Have you been encouraging others with your words and actions by putting good things into their heart? Or have you been discouraging – putting bad things in their hearts?

When we learned this Swahili phrase today, it made me start thinking about what I had put into Sally’s heart today.  It is SO easy to put something there, it’s just that I don’t always purpose to put something good there.  Isn’t that strange that we have such awesome opportunities to be heart doctors with our words, and yet often times we are just lazy.  Unfortunately, sometimes we are just plain mean and put bad things there.  God help us.

By the way, He does care a lot about this topic.  It’s addressed in a variety of ways in several places in the Word of God. Jesus taught about the power of words, how they were manipulated and misused by some of the religious leaders as well as the common person.  The Apostles wrote often about encouraging one another (“Tutiane moyo”). In other parts of the Bible, we are instructed to be careful with our words, to guard our tongue, and that we will all be held accountable for every word that has come from our mouths. (That’s a staggering fact.) The truth is we have opportunity each and every day to do something good.

A word to moms and dads.  We have such an awesome opportunity (and responsibility) to put good things into the hearts of our kids no matter how old they may be.  Please keep in mind that kids and adolescents are especially vulnerable to bad things put in their hearts, but also very responsive to the good things. Please don’t miss out on putting good things there. Would you commit today to proactively seeking opportunities to put something good into their hearts. One a day?

For all of us, we have opportunity each day to be heart menders/helpers or heart breakers. I pray you choose the former.

Daily by His grace,
Larry and Sally

p.s. If you want to see some really cool stuff, take time to do a word seach/study in the Bible on the word “heart”.  You’ll be surprised and certainly be blessed.