TEAR DOWN THESE WALLS: The Story Behind the Song

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.”  What a lie!!  We say this to our children but it’s just not true.  Words hurt: verbal/ emotional abuse can cause as much or maybe even more damage than physical abuse, but unlike bruises, the pain is hidden behind a self-made wall.   

“Verbal abuse is described as a negative defining statement told to the person or about the person or by withholding any response thus defining the target as non-existent. If the abuser doesn't immediately apologize and indulge in a defining statement, the relationship may be a verbally abusive one.” Wikipedia.org

There are so many people walking around with a smile on their face, pretending that everything is “ok”, when inside their hearts are broken and scarred from verbal abuse. “You are so stupid!”  “Can’t you do anything right?”  “You will never get a boyfriend/girlfriend looking like that!”  “Hey you butterball!  Why don’t you go on a diet?”  “You are so lazy.”  And these comments are nice compared to what most abusers say.  I could go on for days…but you get the point.   I have met so many people that live with verbal abuse every day.  We have no idea what goes on behind the closed doors of people’s homes.

Proverbs 12:18 NIV - "Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing."

People who experience verbal/emotional abuse build walls around their hearts to protect themselves from the pain.  We see it so often with teenagers.  They are so hard to reach because the abuse that they have suffered from bullies at school or the adults in their lives have caused them to build such thick walls that it’s hard to get through.  Satan loves it!  The thicker the wall, the harder it is for that person to be reached by the light of Jesus.

Verbal abuse causes the victim to live in a dark prison where no light comes in, and no light goes out.  Even many Christians deal with this kind of abuse.  Walls hold the abused back from being everything that God wants them to be.  They have to realize that Jesus died for their freedom.  He DOES NOT want them to live that way.  They are meant for SO MUCH MORE!

So how do you escape from the prison you have built?  You make a choice not to let others determine your worth.  You make a choice to not let those words hurt you.  You pray for Jesus to tear down the walls and let His love shine through.  He can rescue you from your prison and He is big enough to handle your situation.

The chorus of the song is: “Tear down these walls, and let your love shine through.  I know that You can hear me, and you know just what to do.  I’m tired of being a prisoner, I can’t do this anymore.  Tear the walls down of my heart, I’m meant for so much more.”

Don’t be a victim anymore.  Don’t be a prisoner anymore.  The enemy has already been defeated.  Rejoice and let your light shine!!   

Psalms 64: 3-10 NIV  “They sharpen their tongues like swords and aim their words like deadly arrows. They shoot from ambush at the innocent man; they shoot at him suddenly, without fear….But God will shoot them with arrows; suddenly they will be struck down.  He will turn their own tongues against them and bring them to ruin; all who see them will shake their heads in scorn.  All mankind will fear; they will proclaim the works of God and ponder what he has done.  Let the righteous rejoice in the LORD and take refuge in him; let all the upright in heart praise him!”