Sweet Words

When my son was smaller he used to have phrases & words he misunderstood or simply mispronounced. It was sweet & innocent & we let it slide for awhile until we had to correct the error. One phrase he & most little boys in little league use is: “who are we ‘versing’ tonight?” Simple mistake. You know, the Braves VS the Cards. Another cute mistake was, “Tonight I’m going to stay up to ‘bednight.’” Even though he now knows it’s ‘midnight’ he still uses the phrase. While living in Paris, AR the neighbors had a peacock. That’s right, a peacock. Will’s translation: ‘peahawk.’ We let that one slide until he was almost in school. So sue us, it was cute!

When he was very small he asked me to read a book. Of course he meant to read it to him out loud but I sarcastically began to read it silently. He said, “No, Daddy, through your teeth!” Out of the mouths of babes.

As we get older we learn to drop the simple childish language & phrases. Sadly, we sometimes take on language that’s far less than sweet. Growing up around construction work I heard some pretty ‘salty’ language. Funny, it wasn’t until I grew older & wasn’t even around the language I ever had much trouble keeping my tongue in check. I was around it & was forced to keep a rein on my conversation to not slide into a habit of corrupt talk.

Another thing I noticed was that the more I allowed myself to be ‘entertained’ by movies, music, & TV seasoned with the ‘salty’ language, the more I had to catch myself from spitting out the same ‘off-color’ talk. Sure, rough language may not be any where like knocking over a convenience store, or running down a little old lady in your car, or many other things. It’s simply another way we need to allow God to control our lives. Jesus warned, “A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.”

The Apostle Paul had quite a bit to say about the ‘tongue’. Here’s just a couple of passages to the church at Colossi & Ephesus : “You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds.” Colossians 3:8-9 NLT “Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.” Ephesians 4:29 NLT

I spend the brunt of my life trying to encourage others & share words that bring hope, help & healing. To be honest, I’m not where I want to be in my conversation either! We don’t live in “Little House on the Prairie” or “Leave it to Beaver.” Thing is, when we allow God to control our tongue it helps others pay more attention when we need to share something of true importance.

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Dave Jackson-Campus Minister djackson@absc.org cell 870-217-9376