Tag: speech

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Colossians Devotionals

Words of grace, seasoned with salt

Colossians

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt. (Colossians 4:6)

I don’t know about you, but those words are hard for me to live out.

“Always gracious.”

When I’m annoyed, are my words still gracious?

When I’m angry, are my words still gracious?

I can’t say they are.

“Seasoned with salt.”

Salt flavors food. Salt preserves food.

Do my words do the same for the people around me? Do they encourage people? Do they challenge them to grow? Do they help prevent the rot of sin from spreading in their lives?

Sometimes my words may be hard to hear. But can people see the grace that lies behind them?

Can my daughter see this in me? My wife? My church?

Because if I’m practicing these things at home and church, it helps me to do the same with the non-Christians I see during the week.

And that’s what Paul is primarily talking about here. When we are dealing with the people of this world, we should be speaking words full of grace, seasoned with salt, and making the most of every opportunity to touch them for Jesus.

Jesus said essentially the same thing.

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. (Matthew 5:13)

Lord Jesus, let my words always be gracious, seasoned with salt.

Let me not lose my saltiness because of the words that come out of my mouth each day. 

Rather, through my words, encourage, admonish, touch, and heal the people around me.

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James

How true faith expresses itself

True Faith

One of the things that James really is strong on is that true faith expresses itself in more than just saying, “I believe in God.”

Many people today say, “I believe in God.” But as we will see in later passages, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you have a saving faith.

A saving faith leads to a transformed life. We saw that one reason God allows trials into our lives is so that we might be transformed, that we might be made whole and complete as we learn to trust in him through those trials.

And as we look at the next few chapters, we see three ways we should see our lives changing if we are truly saved. One is in speech. The second is in love. The last is in purity.

(It strikes me that Paul also talks about all these things in 1 Timothy 4:12)

James says first,

If anyone considers himself religious, and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. (James 1:26)

James will get much more into this later, but I will say this. Many people today who struggle with their tongue often take it lightly. They swear, they lie, they slander, they verbally abuse. And it never occurs to them that their words show what is in their hearts.

If there is garbage in your heart, garbage is going to come out. If you think you’re a good Christian and garbage is spewing out of your mouth, James says you’re deceiving yourself and your Christianity is worthless.

It’s worthless because your “faith” has yet to transform your heart. There’s garbage there and you don’t even notice it’s there.

James then says,

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (1:27)

James will explain later what it means to keep from being polluted by the world. But at this point, he goes into great detail on the third way in which our lives should change if we have true faith: the love we have for others.

If we have true faith, we should have a heart that has mercy on those around us. On the widows and orphans. (1:27)

We should have a heart that does not discriminate showing more honor to those who are rich, while despising the poor.

A heart that judges not by appearance but through the eyes of God who has chosen many that the world despise to be his children and to inherit his kingdom. (2:1-2:7)

And James tells us,

If you are keeping the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right.

But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. (2:8-9)

So many people say, “Yes, I’m a good Christian. I don’t murder, I don’t steal, I don’t commit adultery.”

And yet they fail to love those around them with the love of Christ. Instead they despise them. James says of such people, “You’re not as good as you think. In God’s eyes, you are a law-breaker because you don’t love the people around you.”

The Pharisees in Jesus’ day were much the same. They didn’t love. They kept a lot of other rules, some of which God didn’t even require.

But they discriminated, they judged, and they despised many of the people around them. And Jesus rebuked them for their hypocrisy.

How many people that call themselves Christians would Jesus rebuke today?

So James concludes,

Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful.

Mercy triumphs over judgment. (2:12-13)

When we live by the law of love and mercy, we set people free and show ourselves to be God’s children. When we judge and despise people, we show ours faith is not as strong as it should be.

What do your words and actions show about your faith?

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2 Corinthians

What is far more important than our boasting

2 Corinthians

Perhaps because the false teachers in Corinth had been boasting of their “revelations,” Paul let the Corinthians know that he himself had spiritual experiences that far surpassed whatever experiences these false teachers may have had.

He had in fact been carried to heaven into the presence of God (although Paul himself wasn’t sure if it was just a vision or it really happened).

But then Paul said this:

But I refrain (from boasting about my experience), so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say. (2 Corinthians 12:6)

In other words, we may have all sorts of spiritual “experiences.” And I am by no means discounting them as a part of our Christian lives. But we shouldn’t be using them as reasons to boast of our spirituality to others.

True spirituality is found in what we say and do moment to moment, day to day.

That’s what people should see when they see us. Not our awesome spiritual experiences. But God’s working and speaking through us to touch the lives around us. And this, not for our own glory, but for His.

Do you have awesome experiences with God? That’s great!

But a true spiritual experience doesn’t end with the spiritual high. It should translate into our day to day speech and actions.

Does it translate into yours?

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Genesis

Learning when to keep your mouth shut

Genesis

I kind of wonder if Joseph was just really cocky or really naive when he told his brothers about his dreams.

Did he say it like, “Hey guys! Listen to this cool dream I had! I had this dream where all your sheaves of grain bowed to mine. And then I had this other dream where the sun, moon and stars all bowed down to me.

‘What do you suppose it means? Whatever it means, it sounds pretty cool, huh?’”

Or did he say, “Hey guys! Listen to this dream! Heh, heh, heh. You guys are all going to bow to ME someday!”

Well, however he said it, he got into trouble, not only with his brothers, but with his father as well. Everyone got upset with him.

Which just goes to show that there are times when it’s better to keep your mouth shut, even if you think God is telling you something.

There was a friend I once knew when I was in university, who one day went up to a girl at church that he really liked and said, “God told me that I’m going to marry you some day.”

Her immediate reply was, “Well, God didn’t tell ME that.”

As it turned out, they never did get married. But I think my friend learned his lesson that day.

The book of Proverbs talks a lot about watching what you say. Among them are verses such as

Reckless words pierce like a sword,
but the tongue of the wise brings healing. (Proverbs 12:18)

Joseph would’ve been wise to have heeded those words. His brothers were already jealous of him because his father favored him more than them.

But instead of saying things that calmed them down, his words pierced their hearts like a sword and only made them more angry, because it seemed like he was shoving his favored position down their throats.

How often do we say things that, instead of bringing healing to our relationships, bring more hurt. It’s very easy, especially when we’re fighting, to say hurtful things to others.

“You’re so stupid! I can’t believe you! How could you have done such an idiotic thing! You’re so inconsiderate! I’ll never forgive you for this!”

As another verse says in Proverbs 15:1,

A gentle answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger.

What kind of words come out of your mouth? Are they healing to your relationships? Or do they tear them apart?

It’s difficult sometimes to hold our tongue, especially when we’re angry. But other kinds of words can be hurtful too. Gossip can do great harm to a relationship. It says in Proverbs 16:28,

A perverse person stirs up conflict,
and a gossip separates close friends.

Sarcastic or mocking words can also do great damage, even if said jokingly. I’ve gotten into trouble more than once for that.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned, and am still learning, it’s this: “It’s much better to build up in love than to tear down in fun.”

In our culture, we sometimes delight in making fun of our friends. Roasts at weddings or other events are somewhat traditional.

But sometimes when you’re tearing down in fun, you hit a chord in a person that you didn’t expect and you can really hurt them.

But when you build others up in love, people always come away from you blessed and encouraged.

What comes out of your mouth? Blessings or curses? Hurt or healing?