Monday, October 29, 2018

How important to relationships are your words?





How important to relationships are your words? 
Their importance cannot be over exaggerated! 

“My dear brothers, take note of this:
Everyone should be quick to listen and slow to speak …”                                                                                                   James 1:19 

We’ve all heard the phrase . . . God gave us two ears and one mouth so that we should listen twice as much as we talk. Few things improve a relationship better than listening. That being said, there obviously comes a time we much talk. 

And that’s where we tend to get ourselves in trouble.   Why?

Because sometimes we:

Talk before thinking
Use words carelessly
Open mouth and insert foot

I love how the Message Version of the Bible words James 3:2, 4-6 . . .
“We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths.  If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you’d have a perfect person, in perfect control of life…A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything – or destroy it.  It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire.  A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that.  By our speech we ruin the world, turn harmony into chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.”

If we truly realized the power of our words I think we’d use them more cautiously. 

“The tongue has the power of life and death…” Proverbs 18:21

Today, you and I have the choice to use our words destructively to tear down or constructively to build up. 

Destructively . . .
Cursing
Lying
Boasting
Gossiping 

Constructively . . .
Teaching
Encouraging
Guiding
Praising

Here is one of the greatest verses in the Bible on the use of our words . . .
Speak the truth in love . . .                              Ephesians 4:15 

Here is a great test of our words . . .
Before you speak let your words pass through three gates.

Is it true?
Is it necessary?
Is it kind?

No comments:

Post a Comment