Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. 30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
This passage of scripture teaches us the all-important lesson of guarding our words very carefully, and the way that this is done is by surrendering ourselves to God every day so that we are not overcome by deliberate or sudden temptations to say or do un-Christlike things. The template is also given in the passage, for it says that our every word should minister grace, and if it does not, it is better left unsaid. The habit of blurting out whatever first comes to our minds in any given situation can be productive of very great evil, and in some instances, the damage thus done is permanent in nature, hence the reason why our statements should be measured, and well thought out, as the scriptures rightly teach. Let's read:
Proverbs 29:20 Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? there is more hope of a fool than of him.
A striking example of hastiness in speech, which is often drawn from wrong conclusions, can be seen in the immediate reaction of the king of Israel, when a letter was sent from the king of Syria, requesting help for Naaman, head of the Syrian army. The little maid in the story had told her master of Elisha, the prophet in Israel, and she knew Naaman could be healed if he were to pay him a visit. So the Syrian king sent an honest letter, asking that favor be shown to Naaman, and with it, the Syrian captain took very expensive gifts, thus showing that he had good intentions. Let's read:
2nd kings 5:2 And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman's wife. 3 And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy. 5 And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment.
However, the king of Israel did not take kindly to the letter, or the gifts, but was rather deeply offended by the request, and instead of seeing in it, an opportunity to magnify the God of Israel, he instead saw a threat to national security, as evidenced by his hasty words, uttered in the hearing of his servants and heads of state. Let's read:
2nd Kings 5:7 And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me.
Very often in our Christian experience, quarrels and bitter recriminations are embarked upon because of misunderstanding another person's motive. Some of us are not the best of speakers, and as a result, our speech sometimes comes out the wrong way and conveys the incorrect message, thus causing unnecessary conflicts and alienation that could have otherwise been avoided. And there are many of us who are too easily offended by what may be said inadvertently or even deliberately, and often, without stopping to think of the implications of our statements, we let go a barrage of unbecoming words that cause the name of Christ to be greatly dishonored, and bad feelings and raw emotions ensue between ourselves as brethren.
God is now calling each of us to a much higher standard, and He bids us study the life and teachings of Christ, so that we may always have a good template from which to pattern our words and actions. We therefore end with a passage of scripture that encourages us to speak and react in a manner that is commensurate with what we believe, and we also have the example of our Lord and Savior, for if we keep Him in view at all times, His ways and words will become our ways and words, and thus many of life's unnecessary troubles can successfully be averted. Let's read:
Colossians 4:5 Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.
May we begin today to implement this timely counsel, for the grace of God is sufficient to supply our need of restraint in speech. "Good night" and God bless!