Let Your Words Bring Life Not Death Proverbs 16:24 Colossians 4:6 Proverbs 12:18 2 Timothy 4:1-4 Proverbs 10:19-21 Colossians 3:7-10 Proverbs 15:4 1 Peter 3:15-16 Proverbs 25:15 Psalms 19:14 12.30.19

LET YOUR WORDS BRING LIFE NOT DEATH

BREAD

²⁴ Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.  Proverbs 16:24 (NIV)

⁶ Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.  Colossians 4:6 (NIV)

¹⁸ Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. Proverbs 12:18 (NIV)

¹ In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: ² Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction. ³ For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. ⁴ They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.   2 Timothy 4:1-4 (NIV)

¹⁹ When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise. ²⁰ The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked is of little value. ²¹ The lips of the righteous nourish many, but fools die for lack of judgment. Proverbs 10:19-21 (NIV)

⁷ You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. ⁸ But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. ⁹ Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices ¹⁰ and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Colossians 3:7-10 (NIV)

⁴ The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit. Proverbs 15:4 (NIV)

¹⁵ But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, ¹⁶ keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.  1 Peter 3:15-16 (NIV)

¹⁵ Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone. Proverbs 25:15 (NIV)

¹⁴ May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.  Psalms 19:14 (NIV)

BUTTER

“No matter how just your words may be, you ruin everything when you speak in anger.”    John Chrysostom

“--Blazingly, Jesus illustrated this with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4).  No self-respecting Jew of that time would speak to a Samaritan.  But Jesus, caring more for the person than the tradition, knew she had an unquenched thirst.  He sought her out, found common ground -- and the rest is history.  It’s a model I’m seeing lived out all around me - people finding common ground, taking risks, running toward instead of away from threat.  Being brave to love and heal and bless -- no matter the cost to self. Daring to hold back, or to step in to forge a way for peace, stem a destructive tide, or build a river in a desert.  I’m seeing that being salt and light means engaging our world precisely where we are placed. Wherever we find ourselves, there, living simply, profoundly, giving our best at all times for Jesus’ sake.  Upfront or behind the scenes, whether like me you are a helper, or whether you are a leader; a doctor, an executive, a parent, a principal, a granny or a golfer, it matters not -- only that we are givers and love at all times.”   Paula Kirby

“If this story tells us exactly who Jesus is for us today, then it also tells us what the church is. The church is still Peter. That is, the church is a fragile people inspired by God to speak the truth about Jesus. Peter spoke the truth about Jesus; so does the church. But Peter was not infallible. Neither is the church. If Peter spoke the truth, it was because God inspired his words; so it is for the church. Peter was sometimes stupid, selfish, scared, and just plain wrong; so is the church. But Jesus chose Peter. And Jesus still chooses the church. Who are we to differ?”   Samuel Wells

“Before we speak we should put our words through the sieve of:  Is it true?  Is it noble?  Is it right?  Is it pure?  Is it lovely?   Is it admirable?  Is it excellent?  Is it praiseworthy?  Is it necessary????”  BHY  

  

“Just so you know, the need for repentance, redemption, and forgiveness is universal. I don't care if you are a liberal or a conservative, a religious fanatic or a militant atheist, a ‘spiritual’/’religious’ person or someone who runs from all that. It doesn’t matter to me if you listen to Billy Graham or follow Camus—you are in need. No one in the human race is exempt.  It’s in our DNA…When we finally acknowledge our need for forgiveness and come to God in repentance, we find true power; for we now have nothing to hide or protect, we don't care what people say or think about us, we are willing to speak truth gently, and we are enabled to speak with tremendous, supernatural power.”   Steve Brown

“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.”   Mother Teresa

“Wisdom is knowing when to speak your mind and when to mind your speech.”   Anonymous

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil….Not to speak is to speak; not to act is to act.”   Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“The cynics, they can only speak of the dark, of the obvious, and this is not hard. For all it’s supposed sophistication, it’s cynicism that’s simplistic. In a fallen world, how profound is it to see what’s broken?  It’s the brilliant who don’t deny the dark but who always seek the light in everything.”   Ann Voskamp

“God employs His people to encourage one another.  We should delight that God usually works for human beings with other human beings.  It forms a bond of friendship, and being mutually dependent on one another, we are fused more completely into one family.  Work to help others, and especially strive to encourage them.  Talk cheerily to the young and anxious inquirer, lovingly try to remove obstacles out of his way.  When you find a spark of grace in the heart, kneel down and blow it into a flame.  Leave the young believer to discover the roughness of the road by degrees, but tell him of the strength which dwells in God, of the sureness  of the promise, and of the charms of communion with Christ.  Aim to comfort the sorrowful, and to animate the hopeless.  Speak a word in season to him who is weary, and encourage those who are fearful to go on their way with gladness.  God encourages you by His promises; Christ encourages you as He points to the heaven He has won for you, and the Spirit encourages you as He works in you to will and to do of His own will and pleasure.  Imitate divine wisdom, and encourage others according to the Word.”   Charles H. Spurgeon

“Our words have the power to speak life or death over someone.  Watch the face of the hearer.  Think before we speak.  Store up in our hearts His truth before we spout out from our lips our opinions.  Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth will speak.  Be the conduit that life flows freely through to others.  We will then leave the aroma of Christ in our circumstances not the stench of death.”   BHY

HEART SAVOR

·         Let your words bring life to the hearer – not death.  Let them build up others not tear them down.  Let them lead others to the only One Who can change a heart and change the course of a life which is always, only Jesus.

·         Seek for your words to be pleasing to your Savior.

·         Our words are important – make them sweet in case you end up eating them.