Let’s Dance: Leading My Words – Thursday
Ephesians 4:29
Let everything you say be good and helpful so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. (NLT)
This week we’re asking Jesus to lead our words, so how could that look practically?
I really like this list from Tim Keller, summarizing the wisdom from Proverbs:
We need truthful & honest speech, rather than deceptiveness.
We need kind & gentle speech, rather than harshness.
We need wise & apt speech, rather than carelessness.
We need forthright & courageous speech, rather than gossip.
We need economical speech, rather than impusiveness.
Let’s expand on two of those today…
We need kind & gentle speech, rather than harshness.
“A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare.” (Proverbs 15:1) In that verse, “harsh” is a Hebrew word that means to inflict pain. So here’s the test: your speech has to be motivated not to put someone in their place, not to prove them wrong, not to belittle them, the motivation has got to be nothing but love.
If the listener says “I don’t want to hear what they are telling me, but it is obvious that they love me and it’s painful for them to say this to me”. A gentle word may be difficult to hear, but in tone, purpose, voice, in motivation, it must be kind.
And the irony is, there is nothing more persuasive than gentleness (Proverbs 25:15, 16:23). Sarcasm, harshness, name-calling, all the things we naturally want to do, those simply don’t work. Those drive a wedge between people, those push people in the opposite direction. You might win a battle, but you lose the war.
We need wise & apt speech, rather than carelessness.
Wise people think about when to say their words because when they do it’s like “golden apples in a silver setting” (Proverbs 25:11) or as the Message translates it “The right word at the right time is like a custom-made piece of jewelry”. The Hebrew word for “apt” has to do with timing.
Your words may be true but if it’s the wrong time, they won’t be listened to. It’s your job, your responsibility, to think through when is the best time to say this. Do everything you can to make sure what you want to say is hearable.
Jesus gives us the blueprint to follow. Go look at everything Jesus said. Not one unnecessary word. Not one untimely word. Not one unkind word. Not one untruthful word. “No one ever spoke like this man” (John 7:46).
That is what Christlikeness is all about—to imitate Him. Romans 8:29 tells us God wants us to “be conformed to the image of his Son.” Part of looking like Jesus is sounding like Jesus.
So, when people hear you speak, does it remind them of Jesus? Are your words something He would say? Does your tone sound like His?
Thursday’s Reflection
Make this your prayer today, “Lord, may every person I speak with today, every person I encounter, see Jesus in me. May I live and speak in such a way that it reminds them of Jesus.”
