There’s a scene from the true-story movie “The Great Debaters” where professor Melvin Tolson, played by the amazing Denzel Washington, educates his students about a slave owner’s method of controlling his slaves. His strategy was to “keep the slave physically strong but psychologically weak and dependent on the slave owner.” Watch this 44-second scene now:

I was telling people at SiLC last Friday that we have to watch out for negative words attacking us every day. Sometimes they come at us from people around us. It’s not that they’re bad people, but negativity is so rampant that sometimes people can’t help it. It’s like this beautiful young lady who heard from her mom recently: “Your looks would be perfect if it weren’t for your nose…” And that’s from her mother!

It’s not that the mom is a bad person — I know her. It’s just that sometimes people don’t realize how evil works, and they let it get to them and even use them to destroy others.

Sometimes it comes at us from within. Negative self-talk — that little voice you hear at very inconvenient times telling you why something won’t work, or why you can’t do this or that, or why so-and-so is much more capable than you.

The devil wants to enslave you. His favorite method is to weaken your mind. And in case you didn’t know, words are the structure of your thoughts. Watch out for them.

PS. Do yourself a favor and rent “The Great Debaters” and watch it with your family this weekend, if you haven’t seen it yet.