I like to think about building a house when I read the passage from Ephesians shown below from Steve Noble's Love One Another seriew. Think about the work that goes into building a home - the foundation needs to be dug, then the foundation is poured, then the lumber framing starts. One by one, the carpenters build the stud walls and then they frame out the floors and roof. Pretty soon, the house starts to take shape.
Then the electricians and plumbers come in and then the wall board gets put on. Finish carpenters, applicances, flooring, painting - each craftsman builds upon the work of other craftsmen. Some days, more gets built than others and some days, it seems like not much gets done. But can you imagine a worker coming to the home during the construction process and start tearing down walls or breaking up the foundation or ripping out the plumbing and electric? What took weeks or months to build can be destroyed in minutes. And then, all the clean up has to take place before the re-building can occur. Yikes - what a waste!
After all that hard work to get the home to it's current state, why would anyone start tearing it down or destroying any part of it?
Well, we need to ask ourselves the same question in our relationship with our family. It is a lot of work to build a family of love, honesty, kindness, joy and positive energy but it only takes a few minute to tear down and start to destroy that relationship - insults, personal attacks, criticism, angry words or hurtful actions can quickly tear apart what you have spent weeks building. And then, the clean up takes so much time before we can start repairing and rebuilding. Yikes, what a waste!
James tells us to be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger - this is a great reminder to all of us who are working so hard to build a family centered on service, praise and dedication of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
When we are busy building, there is no time to tear down. When we are tearing down, there is no time to build. Let's commit to spending our time building our families.
Scott Mennie
LOVE ONE ANOTHER (Day 25) > > > Speak No Evil
Ephesians 4:29
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
Stupid. Idiot. Jerk. Loser. Ignorant. Moron. Fool. “What were you thinking?” “You’ll never learn!” “You’re driving me crazy!”
Our words can do a lot of damage, and once they come out of our mouths it’s too late to do anything about it. The Bible commands us to be slow to speak (James 1:19) and for good reason: the more we talk, the more we tend to sin.
God’s solution to this problem is very simple: are your words going to lift someone up or tear him or her down? If it’s an insult, don’t say it. If it’s a blessing or an encouragement, say it often! Like I tell my own children (and myself): “Sometimes the most Christ like thing you can do is…shut up.”
Finally, a word about “unwholesome talk.” Foul language seems to be a normal part of society these days, but for a Christian it should not be so. Foul language reflects poorly on its user and it’s lazy English. It does not set you apart…it just makes you one of the crowd. God has not called any of His Children to be “normal”; He’s called us to be special, and the quality of your language is one way that you can reflect that truth!
APPLICATION: Talk about the words and phrases that hurt your feelings, and share why. Next, talk about the words and phrases that make you feel good or encouraged. Finally, pray and ask the Lord to help you live out Ephesians 4:29 at home and out in the world.
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