Death and life are in the power of the tongue…
Proverbs 18:21A DRB
Have you ever wondered why children are so prevalently called “kids?” I wondered to… why do we call our children the name of a young goat?
If there has been one thing (among many) that I retain from the treasure of my Mother’s teaching it is this single verse. As a Mother of many years now the one great impression when thinking of this verse in application to my children.
Because death and life are in the power of the tongue, my husband and I, for many years now have refused to call our children by the term kids. We often get made fun of even by our own adult children now. “Everybody calls them kids. It’s normal.”
The etymology of the word kid is from the Old Norse meaning, “a young goat.” The Bible clearly tells us that the sheep and the goats will be separated. Sheep are docile and cared for by the shepherd and easily led whereas goats are bullies that destroy the world around them. These traits characterize the sheep and the goats and distinguishes those who will inherit eternal life and those who will be condemned.
When we learned this years ago we decided we could no longer call our children by the word kids. We wanted to speak life to them. They are children according to God.