Ephesians 4:32(ESV) says, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” This is God’s standard regarding how we should treat others. In today’s world, it seems that the more intelligence we gain, the more arrogant we become. We pay less attention to our own hearts, and we allow the practice of treating others with kindness, thoughtfulness, and compassion to take a backseat. As God’s people who love the Lord Jesus Christ, Heavenly Father’s expectation is that we will govern ourselves by showing a great level of respect and love wherever and whenever possible. Ephesians 5:1 says that we must be imitators of God as His children, and we are to walk in love as Christ also loved us by giving himself as a sacrifice for our sins.
With the popularity of social media, there’s no end of parodies and comedic spoofs. Some of them feature the matriarchs in our communities of faith, and some of these women haven’t exactly been the most loving examples of God’s grace. We find these humorous, and sometimes shameful, because we know many of these women. Even though many of our seasoned veterans offer praise, prayer, and are notoriously dedicated, some of them are also mean-spirited. They have a gossipy tongue that is too willing to offer scathing criticism and harsh opinions.
We may not speak it forward, but we know and understand that underneath the hood of their demeanor is frustration and bitterness. Either because they’ve never been taught or because no one has ever confronted them in a way that offers Godly instruction, correction, and reproof, these women have harmed themselves. They’ve injured their faith by not opening their hearts to God through the Lord Jesus Christ in a greater way.
Truthfully, we must acknowledge that as women, we know the power of our tongues and we are more than capable of getting our feelings out. It’s how we get them out that is sometimes problematic. It’s crucial that we govern our conversations and critiques with grace and care, because if we say the wrong thing at the wrong time, it can crush our blessings.
Proverbs 16:24(NLT) teaches, “Kind words are like honey—sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.” Kindness expressed outwardly changes something internally. When we make better choices about our words, thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors, we close the door to darkness and set ourselves up to draw the blessings of God to us. A kind word leaves a lasting legacy; it can change the course of someone’s life forever. We must be ever so careful to understand that a biting word can have the same effect. It, too, can change someone’s life forever, and this will be laid to our account on judgement day.
Each day you and I have an opportunity to speak a life-changing word into someone’s life, and we ought to take the opportunity to speak words of life over our own lives as well. God has given us free-will. You and I decide who we are going to be. We decide whether we are going to trust God’s Word and confess His promises, or whether we will let doubt and negativity rule our hearts and minds.
Through the Lord Jesus Christ, God has given us His love, and it lives in each of us. He is counting on us to let this love do its most perfect work. He expects that through His love, we will become power houses and use it to fuel our lives with the most wonderful blessings. We must lead by example. Philippians 2:13 tells us that God is working in us. He’s given us the desire to do what pleases Him. You and I have a responsibility to let Him be at work by lining up what we do, think, and say to His Word. He tells us in Philippians 2:14-15(NLT), “14 Do everything without complaining and arguing, 15 so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.” This is God’s instruction. It is sweet to our souls, and if we govern our hearts, actions, and tongues by it, we will witness the manifestation of the blessings we truly desire. ■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) is adapted from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. All rights reserved.
“Sweet to the Soul”, written by Kim Times, edited by Reverend Fran Mack for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2021. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.