We’ve all carried them, the words that sit heavy on the heart but never make it past our lips: “I like you.” “I think you’re amazing.” “I wish you knew how much I care.”
Why do we keep them locked inside? Fear. Fear of rejection, fear of awkwardness, fear of vulnerability. For some, it’s shyness. For others, it’s the voice in the head that says, “They’d never feel the same about me.”
But what if people actually knew what we thought of them? What if someone who spent their whole life assuming no one wanted them suddenly realized they were admired? How would it change their confidence? Their hope? Their joy?
To be wanted, to be valued, is one of the most powerful forces in a person’s life. A single word of admiration can lift a crushed ego, heal years of insecurity, and spark courage where none existed before. Proverbs 18:21 reminds us: “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” When we speak encouragement or love, we breathe life into others. Silence, on the other hand, leaves those words to die in the shadows of “what if.”
But there’s a hard truth too: sometimes those words aren’t returned. Sometimes your honesty is met with silence, or with “I don’t feel the same way.” Rejection hurts. It stings the heart and bruises the ego. It can make you want to retreat back into silence forever.
Yet here’s the paradox: rejection doesn’t erase your value. It simply clarifies where you stand with that person. And clarity, though painful, is often better than living with uncertainty. Even Jesus was rejected by His own people (John 1:11), but that rejection never changed His worth or His mission.
So is it worth the risk? I believe it is. Because whether your words open the door to love and connection, or whether they give you closure and freedom, you win something either way. You trade the torment of unspoken “what ifs” for the freedom of truth.
Maybe today, the challenge is this:
- Tell a friend you admire them.
- Tell someone you care for that you like them.
- Tell your spouse you’re thankful.
Because life is too short for the words we never say.
Troy P Zehnder 