From “The Word For You Today” by Bruce Christian

GRACIOUS WORDS

 

Mark Twain quipped, “It takes two years to learn how to talk, and the rest of your life to control your mouth.”  The Psalmist prayed, “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O’ Lord.”  A sin most often tolerated in the church, and sometimes even condoned, is the sin of gossip.  Jesus condemns careless words; saying they “come from an evil heart” (Mt 15:18 TLB).  And how about words we speak without considering their effect on others?  If you think God just turns a blind eye, think again!  Jesus said, “Every one…is going to come back to haunt you.  There will be a time of reckoning…take them seriously” (Mt 12:36 TM).  Your words create or destroy, discourage or inspire, heal or hurt, so choose what you say carefully.  Careless words are often just the meaningless chatter we engage in when we’ve nothing worthwhile to contribute.  And the more you speak them, the more likely they are to deteriorate into gossip and hurt people.  Solomon writes, “Even fools are thought wise when they keep silent” (Pr 17:28 NLT).  Would you trust someone who had a frivolous comment for everything?  No?  Then stop and think about what comes out of your mouth!  Would you get more respect and cause less confusion if you kept it shut?  Or were more discerning about the kind of stories you tell?  Or thought twice before you “shoot from the hip”?  The Bible says, “Let your speech always be with grace…that you may know how you ought to answer each one” (Col 4:6 NKJV).

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A Word of Caution

It saddens me to have to write a post like this, but as someone who loves my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, I feel led to post a word of caution to people.  I’m not going to mention any names because I don’t want to prejudice any one person to another.  Recently, I’ve encountered some posts implying that another is lying on their blog, and implying that they’re doing things that aren’t right.  I don’t know whether they are or not.  Personally, I have seen nothing on their blog to give me any reason to think so.

To make this short and sweet, please prayerfully consider what others say about other people.  We cannot know someone’s motive for what they say about another.  Some people are very well-intentioned.  Others are less so…  But, I encourage you to read what the Bible says about gossip and slander.

The way I look at it is this: I take every person on their own terms.  I have no problem with anyone so long as they respect me, what I do, and my right to do it.  I think God entitled us all to have an opinion, but that doesn’t give us the right to say things about others that aren’t true.  I neither support or encourage gossip  or slander on this blog.  If you disagree with something I write, I have no problem with you expressing how you feel about it, so long as you do so respectfully.  But, I want you to know you are under no obligation to read this blog.  You don’t like what I say you are welcome to unsubscribe with no hard feelings on my part.

I encourage you to please, please treat others as you would like to be treated.  If someone makes a comment about someone else on your blog please give both parties fair treatment, and consideration.  Don’t dismiss somebody just because someone else doesn’t like or agree with another.  Base your opinions and judgments about people on your own experience with them;  not on someone else’s.

Try to remember that we are representatives of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and that our blogs are being read by people desperately in need  of our Lord and Savior’s forgiveness and grace.  How will they ever experience that, or even want it, if we don’t show that we have experienced it ourselves and given it to others.