Aptly Spoken
Café Menu for Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Today’s Special is: Words of Gold
Carefully prepared just for you by your friend, Paris Renae
Main Ingredient:
A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.
Proverbs 25:11 NIV
Entrée:
I always smile, and should blush, when I read James 3:3-8 describing our tongue and concluding that
It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
God’s crowning creation, man and woman, given the gift of speech - how often we use it to bruise, instead of to build.
In the Disney movie Bambi, Thumper’s mom gave him wise advice:
If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.
Those are words aptly spoken…
Often it is with those we are closest to that we are loosest with our words. Words more often covered in barbs than in beauty.
Funny how the people we are most attracted to, that we remember what they said, that seem to have a peace that alludes us, are those whose words drip with honey and not vinegar. Gossip no matter how we frame it, still betrays the subject. Harsh words no matter how ‘deserved’, still injure the spirit.
Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.
Psalm 139:4 NIV
With this truth in mind we realize it is our hearts that need the makeover. Bringing those thoughts captive to the Lord instead of letting them loose on the world. Pondering before we speak, text, message.
What if all our aptly spoken words weighed as much as gold and our careless words weighed as much as feathers? At the end our days, would we have enough golden words to outweigh the piles of feathers?
To have words that are golden apples in settings of silver is a lofty goal, but those are the kind of words that speak life into another’s soul and release us from the bondage of regret.
Take Out:
Join me today in pondering just a moment before reacting, choosing to bless, and letting go of self in favor of building up another’s fragile heart.
Dessert:
Oh Father, how well You know us – before a word is even on our tongue. Help us moment by moment to speak in a manner worthy of You who has called us to be ambassadors for You. In our homes, jobs, churches – in all places, at all times, help us tame these wild tongues of ours that we can be a blessing and rest in the freedom found in pleasing You with aptly spoken words. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
© 2015 by Paris Renae. All rights reserved.
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Originally published Tuesday, 06 October 2015.
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