“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Ephesians 4:29
Go figure. It was about seven years ago when it happened. I was driving back from Evansville, Indiana and there was a school bus coming toward me. Of course, I didn’t think a thing about it…school buses come and go all the time. Well, this one had a surprise waiting for me. Just about the time we met, in opposite lanes, of course, something came flying out of the bus. To this day I don’t know what it was but whatever it was…it was big and heavy. It hit my windshield near the bottom and shattered it there. In fact, it was so heavy, that it almost broke all the way through…glass scattered on my dash.
Well, needless to say, I was shocked. I really wasn’t sure what had happened but it scared the pants off of me. But then, I smiled. You see when I bought the car it was, of course, used and the windshield had a couple of obvious defects. First, it looked like it had been sandblasted and was covered with a zillion small pits. Second, the top of the windshield had a medium to dark blue tint all the way across. The dealer had placed one of those stickers on the outside that told what year it was and it stayed on long enough to leave a permanent oval-shaped shadow. Being a perfectionist, both of these drove me nuts.
I wanted to replace the windshield but just couldn’t bring myself to do it and then when “it” happened, it was replaced courtesy of the insurance company…and that was why I smiled. Oh, I guess I wish it hadn’t happened but since it did, I was grateful for the new windshield.
The company did a great job installing the new glass and asked me to leave a review for their small town company…so I did. Well, the following week I received an email from my friends at Google congratulating me on the fact that over five hundred people had read my review and found it helpful. Now who would have thought in a small town that many people would have read and reacted to my review. It made me realize just how powerful and far reaching our words can be.
The Jesus part of the Bible, the New Testament, talks a lot about our words…mostly encouraging us to be careful what we say. Long before Google, Jesus and the rest of the guys who wrote the New Testament realized the importance and power of words. The bottom line was and is…be careful what you say…it carries more impact that you realize. Someone said, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” It is a nice saying but it is simply not true. Words can hurt a lot…trust me I know.
Paul said when he was writing to the church in Ephesus, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” What great advice. That review, depending on what I said, had the power to help or hurt and so do our words. Let’s choose our words carefully. If you find yourself at a loss of words—it might be a blessing instead of a curse. And when you find yourself with too many words and something comes tumbling out that should stay in…just ask for a little help from the greatest word crafter ever…God…as always, “He’s got this.” Bro. Dewayne
Grits with Grace 