Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may Minister Grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the Day of Redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be you kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you.
Ephesians 4:29-32
Negative words can have a lasting effect. We've all encountered the bitter aftertaste of words that were spoken to us, about us, or from our own mouths.
Have you shared with someone your deepest hurts, concerns and feelings about a situation? Or about other people?
"But, they were prayer request," you defend! Ah-ha! Let me guess then, you guys held hands and lifted those poor folks up in prayer right there at your Applebee's booth. I highly doubt that.
I have had a few foot-in-mouth moments myself. If you say you haven't had any, you are probably just oblivious to the fact that you have. Or... you're lying.
Seriously though, think of a time you said something that was just not nice. Maybe it was true.
There are a lot of things that are true that we could say, but that doesn't make it okay.
If we would all just live by that good ol' saying...
If you can't say somethin' nice, don't say anything at all!
Wow. Imagine that. Social media would lose all it's drama. The news would have nothing to say anymore. We all would have to learn how to hold a conversation again. Your prayer meetings would get a lot more spiritual. Your anxiety would diminish. The world would look at the church as a unified body of loving, forgiving believers instead of a house full of hypocrites staring down their noses, back biting each other.
Now, there is a time to correct a friend, which we all should be okay with, if we really want to be closer to the Lord. Friendship is so much more than buying each other birthday presents and even more than defending them when nobody else is. True friendship is always growing. True friendship sharpens each other. To grow, there will be some discomfort. Like a seed when it comes in contact with water, it has to burst out of it's shell and push through the ground above. There is always work and some pain when something is growing, and that includes relationships. This allows forgiveness, mercy, and grace and your hearts to be turned to the Father in those dark valleys. Like it says in Proverbs, "Open rebuke is better than secret love." Meaning, a love that says and does nothing is not as valuable as an affection that rebukes.
And the next verse, "Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful."
A 'friend' who will kindly tell you of your mistakes or faults is not destructive, but helpful! The one who flatters you and tells you everything is well, when in reality it's not, is said by God to be "deceitful" and that means an 'enemy.'
A godly friend will always guide you back to the Cross in every situation and faithfully help you in the good and the bad times.
I am so thankful for people who have lovingly corrected me in my Christian walk. When I first was saved I needed lots of correcting and guiding. They didn't call me out in front of a group of people. They didn't mention me as a prayer request to someone else behind my back. They didn't bad mouth my shortcomings to their other friends. No, those godly saints lovingly covered me in prayer in those moments. They didn't say they would pray and then go off and gossip about me to someone else. They held my hand and prayed. One lady out of state prayed with me over the phone just last year when I was fighting something in my heart. They not only prayed, they gave me the Word. They brought it to me and applied it to my situation. They wrote me a card in the mail. They stayed with me at the altar. They were used greatly by Jesus.
My favorite hymn, Through it All, says in it,
"I've had many tears and sorrows, I've had questions for tomorrow, there've been times I didn't know right from wrong, but in every situation, God gave blessed consolation, that my trials come to only make me strong."
I have goose bumps just typing those words.
Through it all God will be there. Through your dark, lonely times. Through your biggest failures and shortcomings. During your greatest victories. Through every season, He is there. I read just this morning about Job and how even his own wife, who was supposed to be his HELP meet was being a HINDERANCE meet, told him to curse God and just die! God was still with Job even when his own wife wasn't encouraging him anymore. Sometimes, we go through personal trials and dry, lonely deserts without anyone there to offer comfort. But, I promise you this, God is there with you. If you are a Child of God, His Spirit is inside of you. No better friend than the One you'll have in Jesus.
Alright, so...back to your tongue.
You blew up and said something hateful to your spouse. You said something cruel to your kid. Or your adult kid. You mentioned someone's name and spoke about them in a rude way and you didn't even know why you did it. You found yourself just listening and maybe agreeing to someone who was venting to you about someone. You were short with the cashier because they didn't give you enough change. You wrote off your dad because of the things he said and did to you 25 years ago. You talked all the way home from church about the preacher's message in a negative way. You put down someone's appearance. You were hateful to a friend and you justified it and you've never even considered apologizing because your pride won't let you. You talk about all the things your husband does wrong to your mother. You talk about your wife to your best friend. You talk about so-and-so's family and how they don't know how to raise children correctly. You complain about the church's carpet color. You unleash your anger on Facebook about how bad someone treated you ten years ago. You yelled at the waitress because your order was incorrect.
The list could go on and on and on... so many examples of how we allow corrupt communication to come out of our mouths.
Scroll back up and read the first verse at the top of this post.
It's okay, I will wait for you.
Okay, so what did it say? Paul says to let NO corrupt communication come out of your mouth! NONE. Zilch. Obviously, with technology these days we can communicate through a phone or laptop, but it still applies. So, what do we say then? We can edify others. No, we must! If we want to live a victorious life united with Jesus AND others, we must edify each other. I don't care if they don't look like you, don't go to your church, offended you on multiple occasions, or don't speak your language. Try the rest of this week to not say a SINGLE corrupt word about someone, and when you feel the urge to still talk, then BUILD THEM UP!
Think about that.
Does what you say of others build them up or tear them down?
I started something several months back. When I started to have a negative thought, (because we all know what we think on, we will eventually speak out loud) but when I have a negative thought about a person or a situation, instead of allowing Satan to use my own God given brain against me, I say a prayer for that person or about that situation and I give it over to God and pray blessings. It has brought so much peace to my heart and life and I have been able to help other people do the same thing when they come to me with a negative comment, opinion or fact about something.
When we speak negativity, it says in the Bible we are grieving the Holy Spirit.
Who in their right mind would want to do that?
Lastly, we are told to let all bitterness, anger, jealousy... anything EVIL or UNGODLY, we are to PUT IT AWAY FROM US.
Be kind to others, tenderhearted and forgiving each other, JUST as Christ forgave US!
Just think, we would see so many more people saved if they saw the church reconcile amongst themselves. If they saw it's members stop gossiping and tearing each other down. If they would stop being jealous of the group of friends across the church. If they would come to worship God instead of come to church to sit with their clique and go to lunch with their clique. Why don't you sit by a stranger this coming service? Why don't you offer to buy their meal afterwards? Edify and lift them up. You have no idea how many people are out there just waiting for one person to make them feel loved. One person to make them feel like they matter in this great big world.
Show them what a Christian really looks and talks like.
The devil will always fight God's people and try to make the Church as whole look foolish and bad to the world. Stop giving him room by allowing him to control your tongue. Get down on your knees and ask God's forgiveness. I promise you, there is nothing like being washed by the Blood and allowing God's SON to shine in your life. Peace and contentment is what it'll bring. Not as the world gives, but peace that only comes through the Father.
Thank you for your time and I pray you draw closer to God today.
Loved it. 💗
ReplyDelete-Krissy