words.

I've been thinking a lot this summer about what comes of out of my mouth. I'm known in my OT program for having no filter. I have this way of just saying or asking whatever comes to mind, seldom with malicious intent, rather mere curiosity. This is not necessarily a bad thing. However, there are those times when I can say a piercing word to those I love. Recently I saw what it looks like to hold your tongue, to think before you speak. It was unique and inspiring. Don't get me wrong, she had a mind and she had opinions, but she chose wisely when and how to share them. I'm not saying I don't believe in "free speech", but what is "free" speech? Freedom to say what we want? Yes, to some that is exactly it, and of course this is a thought upheld by our founding fathers. But my husband challenged me in church today with his sermon. To sum it up in just a few sentences (without giving his sermon full credit)...

He drew us into the near end of Ephesians (the end of 4 to 5:2, not fair right, as there is so much to Ephesians). Here Paul comes in with a BANG about how we should live, but it is preceded by Paul reminding us who God is, the radical work Jesus had done culturally and spiritually, and God's deep and profound love for us. And because of this, we respond to God, and Paul gives us some helpful hints as to what that response can look like.

One of those suggestions, if you can call it that was to 'not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, but only what is helpful for building of others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen' (v.29). There were other suggestions, but this one stuck out to me. He challenged us, what if we only spoke words that built one another up? What if we just tried for a day? Could we do it? What would our relationships look like? What would our heart look like?

But the point is this, we don't just do these things to do them or to "be right", we do them our of our response to God's love toward us - out of God's initiation with us - out of an intimate knowledge of our Lord. The beginning of the story is with God's love, the rest is in our response to that love. This is where the freedom comes in. We are truly freed when we can love one another, give to one another, speak to one another, forgive one another without needing anything in return - attention, forgiveness, kudos, gifts, etc... How freeing to know that God can take care of all of that, our anger, our sadness, our pain, our needs.

So, I don't just want to speak a language that only builds up, I want to have a heart that is filled with the love of God so much that it over flows sweet words out of my mouth, words that bless not curse. ~ building up