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

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Virgin?

           Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)           This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)           But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”            “How will this be,” Mary asked the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more