Some of us are familiar with people saying “I keep it real”, “I’m not going to sugar coat anything, and I tell it like it is”or“I’m just being honest”. I am not opposed to people speaking their mind, especially if they have the mind of Christ. Recently God put on my heart to study how we ought to encourage and uplift one another in speech through mercy and grace. The first scripture he took me to was Colossians 4:5-6 (KJV) “Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.”
The MSG version reads like this: “Make the most of every opportunity. Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, and not cut them out.”
I was immediately thinking, how many times have I shared my opinion in a conversation with someone and not been gracious or merciful. Telling myself I was helping the person with constructive criticism. The thing is criticism whether good or bad is not in the scriptures, constructive or not, it is just another way to judge a person. And what does the Bible tell us about judgment?
Romans 14:10-13 (KJV) “But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Let us not therefore judge one another anymore: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.”
What’s important is that we tell people God’s truth, that in any situation or difficult circumstances we express the will of God and not our own understanding. We don’t want to plant bad seeds; negative words that we believe will help them. Instead plant seeds of faith that will grow in maturity and love to build godly character. Sure we can give people advice on marriage, raising children, managing their money and so forth. I mean God allowed us to have those experiences to share with others, but God wants us to share it in grace, mercy and LOVE. Read carefully 1 Corinthians 13. That chapter is our example how we tell people the truth, how we keep it real, how we tell it like it is and how we are honest.
Galatians 6:1-2 (ERV) “Brothers and sisters, someone in your group might do something wrong. You who are following the Spirit should go to the one who is sinning. Help make that person right again, and do it in a gentle way. But be careful, because you might be tempted to sin too. Help each other with your troubles. When you do this, you are obeying the law of Christ.”
In closing I’m encouraging each one of us to commit to speech that is full of grace, mercy and love. This does not make us weak; this doesn’t mean we walk on eggshells when talking to people. It means that we must meditate, pray and wait on the Lord to give us an answer on how to properly and righteously speak to our brothers and sisters. Inspired by God, written by vizhun…
COMMENT: Powerful message from a man of God! Let us master our mouth, words matter! Words can tear down or build up; we want to build up ourselves as well as others. Read today’s scriptures in “Food For the Soul” on how God wants us to live and act in grace. Love and blessings…
EMMANUEL 