June 10, 2024 THAT YOU MAY KNOW
Colossians 4:6 “Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned, as it were, with salt, so that you may know how you should respond to each person.”
Ephesians 4:29 “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”
Our words are powerful; they can build up tear down. Many lives have been greatly harmed by critical words, just as many lives have been greatly blessed by encouraging words. In our sphere of life, we are in contact with people, whether it be family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, store clerks, or whoever; we find ourselves in situations that call for words. At times, we may be caught off guard by what someone says to us and we may not know how to respond. James says a lot about the power of the tongue; “it makes great boast;’’ ‘it is a fire, a world of evil;” “it corrupts the whole person, sets the course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.” Those are shocking words-but true. Thank God that through the Holy Spirit, we have control over our tongue. 1 Peter 3:10 tells us “For ‘whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking evil.’” We may mistakenly think that it is going to be a great challenge to control our tongues; however, this verse in Colossians gives us the key, or the how too, to speak the right words. “Let our speech be always with grace.” Grace is the track that our words are to run on; grace is to be the guiding force-the origin of our words. Grace does away with harshness, anger, judgement, hostility, and impatience. Grace is to be the filter of our words. Note that our speech is to be always with grace. No matter what is said to us or done to us, we will know how to respond if we are operating in grace-the grace that God gives. It is a liberating truth to know that we do not have to respond in like manner to those who speak out of anger, or frustration, or whatever. The really good news is that when someone speaks in a wrong way to us, it is a golden opportunity to show that God in us makes us different-we can speak words of grace even in the most difficult moments. As alluded to above, it is only by the power of the Spirit in us that we can always speak graceful words. Let us be reminded that our words tear down, or build up; our words can be expressions of the character of God and a picture of His kingdom. (Speaking graceful words does not mean that all of our words are sweet and rosy; sometimes we must speak corrective words and we must deal with conflict-but it is to be done in a graceful spirit.)
Proverbs 18:21 “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”
Blessings, Buddy
Colossians 4:6 “Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned, as it were, with salt, so that you may know how you should respond to each person.”
Ephesians 4:29 “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”
Our words are powerful; they can build up tear down. Many lives have been greatly harmed by critical words, just as many lives have been greatly blessed by encouraging words. In our sphere of life, we are in contact with people, whether it be family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, store clerks, or whoever; we find ourselves in situations that call for words. At times, we may be caught off guard by what someone says to us and we may not know how to respond. James says a lot about the power of the tongue; “it makes great boast;’’ ‘it is a fire, a world of evil;” “it corrupts the whole person, sets the course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.” Those are shocking words-but true. Thank God that through the Holy Spirit, we have control over our tongue. 1 Peter 3:10 tells us “For ‘whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking evil.’” We may mistakenly think that it is going to be a great challenge to control our tongues; however, this verse in Colossians gives us the key, or the how too, to speak the right words. “Let our speech be always with grace.” Grace is the track that our words are to run on; grace is to be the guiding force-the origin of our words. Grace does away with harshness, anger, judgement, hostility, and impatience. Grace is to be the filter of our words. Note that our speech is to be always with grace. No matter what is said to us or done to us, we will know how to respond if we are operating in grace-the grace that God gives. It is a liberating truth to know that we do not have to respond in like manner to those who speak out of anger, or frustration, or whatever. The really good news is that when someone speaks in a wrong way to us, it is a golden opportunity to show that God in us makes us different-we can speak words of grace even in the most difficult moments. As alluded to above, it is only by the power of the Spirit in us that we can always speak graceful words. Let us be reminded that our words tear down, or build up; our words can be expressions of the character of God and a picture of His kingdom. (Speaking graceful words does not mean that all of our words are sweet and rosy; sometimes we must speak corrective words and we must deal with conflict-but it is to be done in a graceful spirit.)
Proverbs 18:21 “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”
Blessings, Buddy
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