I’m a fantastic listener. It’s a good thing that people like to talk to me. I can sit for hours and let folks unload their verbal baggage on me. That’s an imperative part of being a friend, sibling, spouse, and even parent. People like be heard. It’s a good thing that I like to listen.
The problem that I have isn’t with listening. No, my problem is speaking.
I’ll admit that it’s an issue of mine mostly around those that I’m closest to. My family.
Let me be real honest with you. My husband, bless him, tends to get the brunt of my words. And when you live with someone, your filter can wear a little thin. I won’t lie to you, there are times when I say things to my husband and almost immediately I think why did I have to say that? Perhaps my honesty with him is less filtered because I know he isn’t going anywhere. Even still, our spouses deserve the same respect that we show others.
God has really been ministering to me about my speaking the last few months. I read an article recently that said that every day we say enough words to write 50-60 pages in a book. In an entire year, we could author 264 books with at least 200 pages. If your books went on sale right now at Barnes and Noble, would you stand behind the words written in them?
I would burn some of mine.
Words are powerful. What you say and what you don’t say matters.
Matthew 6:45 says …for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. If within our hearts we only want to build others up, our words will reflect that. If we say unkind things, we may have a heart issue. The point is to fight the urge to let our hearts become hard and say those things that do build others up. It’s not easy every time. Our flesh and inherent sinful nature will always be resistance, but we can choose to hit the override button and say only things in truth.
Jesus was all about relationships. Relationships depend heavily on words. Make them good ones. Make them count. Make them uplifting, inspiring, cheerful, heartfelt, motivating, encouraging, truthful words.
Lord I pray for the hearts reading this right now. I pray for you to wash over our hearts and to refresh our spirits with truth. Help us to say only what is good for building others up like you have said in Ephesians 4:29. Give us guidance for when we should speak and when we should be silent. For when we should talk and when we should listen. We pray that you would shine through what we say and that it would bring you glory.
In Jesus name,
Amen
I told you that God has been working on me and my words? He sent the book Keep It Shut to my door. God isn’t always subtle, is he?!
Family Christian sent me this book written by Karen Ehman to review. I gotta say, this one had me reviewing myself more than the book. It challenged me. It really did.
Karen covers pretty much every aspect surrounding the tongue in Keep It Shut: gossip, people-pleasing, truth-telling, social-sharing, manners, motives, lying, listening, and love. It’s all there!
She is funny! She uses the Bible as a model for which to go by. And she addresses such common issues that life throws our way and also how to react with our words. It’s divided into chapters that cover all the different things that I’ve talked about.
In this book, you will find lots of great tips and many great Bible verses.
I recommend this book to anyone who wants to work on their words.
You can find Keep It Shut by Karen Ehman at Family Christian….OR you can win it below!
Keep It Shut Giveaway
This giveaway will end on Monday, February 15th at 11:59pm CT. I will randomly select and winner and I will contact them on Monday the 16th and they will have 24 hours to respond. If I have not heard from them, I will randomly select a new winner.
I was provided with Keep It Shut by Family Christian for review purposes. All opinions expressed are 100% my own.
