Skip to main content

Gracious Words

             The Lord detests the thoughts of the wicked, but gracious words are pure in his sight. (Proverbs15:26)

 

Yesterday’s soulcare idea was grace, partly because this was today’s verse. And I must begin with a negative approach because I suspect we encounter “gracious words” from the mouths of manipulative people. They butter you up to make you taste better when they eat you or feed you to the wolves. (I like that description!) We think we’re wise when we are suspicious of smooth talk. And there’s good reason for this. Unfortunately, we may learn to respond to all kind words with that suspicion, and that’s as big a mistake as believing what the manipulators say. Wisdom doesn’t put all its eggs in one basket.

If gracious words are pure in God’s sight, shouldn’t we learn to use them? It’d be nice if there were classes or books, but there used to be and people misunderstood the purpose, either thinking they were learning to manipulate or to become Stepford people, programmed to say all the right things all of the time so that we didn’t embarrass anyone because of our bad behavior.

I won’t pretend that I speak graciously. I’m not even sure what it means. I’m sure it doesn’t mean saccharine tones and lower than some specific decibel. I suspect that speaking for the benefit of the other is part of it - with no ulterior motives. That doesn’t mean never saying anything negative, because sometimes the grace we need is correction. But I suspect it does require that we see and put the person and their statements in the best light possible while speaking truth.  Yeah, this one is going to take more thought.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen To Him

              The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him . (Deuteronomy 18:15)           Today, we switch from Jesus’ claims of “I am” to prophecies made about Him. My Bible platform is starting in Deuteronomy. I’d start in Genesis, where we would learn that the one who would save us would be a descendant of Eve (Genesis 3:15), of Noah (by default), Abram and Sara(Genesis 12:1-3). Isaac (Genesis 17:19), Jacob (Genesis 25:23), Judah (Genesis 29:8), and David (II Samuel 7:12-16). There were also references to a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-32). In addition, there were prophecies about when and where the prophet/Messiah would be born and what would happen to him.           Of course, naysayers will claim that Jesus’ life was retrofitted or reverse enginee...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Way, The Truth, and The Life

              Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me . (John 14:6)           If “I am the gate of the sheep…I am the good shepherd” from chapter 10 is a double whammy, this verse is a triple whammy. And its first victim is the notion that any other so-called god was acceptable or the same as Jesus. He, and He alone is the way, the truth, and the life, and the only way to get to the Father. There is no other Savior, or Redeemer, according to Jesus. Now, to be fair, other religions will claim that their religion or god(s) are the only way. That is the nature of gods and of religions. If this and that are equally good and agree on what’s necessary, then this and that are the same thing, so there’s no need to from the other to one. If that’s the case, then why speak against the other or promote the one? There’s a song I’ve been listening to i...
Post a Comment
Read more