Page Three: “Your Speech: Is It Healthy?” - 8/11/13
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God tells you what to do with your speech at all times; always; which implies with all people; and which also implies that He’s constantly listening to our words. This sounds like the LORD wants you and me to be consistent in our speech. There is never a time when you are allowed of the Holy Spirit to say just anything to anyone.
Now, imagine for just a moment, that you are under stress, should you “let you speech be always with grace”? Suppose you are treated unjustly; suppose you are being persecuted; suppose you are being mocked because of your faith in Christ; suppose you are going through a very difficult situation; wouldn’t these circumstances give you the excuse to cede control of your tongue to your feelings? No, the Bible says ““Let your speech be always with grace …” Now, is the LORD ready at any and every moment to dispense His grace to you? Yes, He is the God of all grace. He supplies grace for every conversation so that can will be pleasing to Him with the use of your tongue. Grace, as you know, is a matter of the heart; but also of the tongue. What happens when you speak before you think? What happens when you speak hastily? What happens when you speak before you understand the entire story? “To speak with grace means to say what is spiritual, wholesome, fitting, kind, sensitive, purposeful, complementary, gentle, truthful, loving, and thoughtful.” [From Dr. John MacArthur from www.gty.org] Paul wrote this in Ephesians 4:29 “Let no corrupt [unwholesome] communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.” You need His grace to control your tongue. He’s ready and willing to provide it. And then, as you speak with His grace, you minister grace to those around you. |
So, first, how you answer a person is important to God.
Second, speak always with grace. Colossians 4:6. “Let your speech be alway with grace …” Third, You are called us season your speech with salt. Here’s Colossians 4:6 again. “Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.” What does “seasoned with salt” mean? Think about the value of salt to your meals. Salt, as you know, is used for one basic purpose, to “flavor your food,” to “make it taste better,” to enable you to enjoy it more. So, speech seasoned with salt must be speech that is inviting. It must be speech that has a positive effect on those who hear you. Think about your own speech. Is it so strong that it repels others? Is it beneficial? Or is it detrimental? Illustration: On the road one day, a man and a woman smashed their cars together in a dreadful wreck. Both vehicles were totaled, but fortunately neither person was hurt to any major degree. The woman said to the man, "Thank goodness we're both okay! We should celebrate. I have a bottle of wine in my car, so let's open it and toast the fact that we survived this wreck." The man agreed and the woman opened the bottle of wine and handed it to him. He took a huge swallow and handed it back. The woman closed the bottle and set it down by his car. The man asked, "Aren't you going to take a drink?" "No," the woman said. "I think I'll just wait for the cops to get here." [Found on www.pastorwalt.hubpages.com]. Do you think there’s a place for humor in speech that is seasoned with grace? I do. |