Pause Before You Speak

I heard someone say something about another person recently.  It had absolutely nothing to do with me, but I found myself grieved.  As I pondered this, I realized it must be a small indication of how God feels when we say or do something unkind or slanderous.  I thought about this verse:

"Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires."  James 1:19,20

Perhaps one of the biggest challenges for us is being "slow to speak."  In an age of "instant" everything, sometimes our speech is instant too.  I had that happen recently.  I heard something that I was upset about, and shared it with a friend right away.  A few minutes later, I realized I shouldn't have done that and needed to apologize.  I think it's helpful to hit "pause" before we speak!!  

These days it seems that people feel free to speak anything and everything.....from the mildest thing to the most awful thing.  There are plenty of examples of people doing that, and I guess social media has given us platforms for that.  But it doesn't change God's standards for our speech.  He'll still hold us accountable.

"The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit."  Proverbs 15:4

"Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person."  Colossians 4:6

"Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips."  Psalm 141:3

"A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger."  Proverbs 15:1

"Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble."  Proverbs 21:23

"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

That verse is a tall order!  Our speech needs to build up and impart grace.  We definitely need to hit pause before we speak!

"I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak."  Matthew 12:36

We may think we can say whatever we think - after all, "freedom of speech" and so forth.  But God is listening and we will be accountable for what we say.

There are dozens and dozens of verses in the Word about our speech.  We have a lot to live up to.

I want my speech to be pleasing to the Lord.  I am keeping the guideline of being "slow to speak" in the fore front of my mind!

Called of God

From the excellent website, churchplanting.com comes this devotional article by Peter Sung…

And he said to him, “Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?” But he had nothing to say  ~ Matthew 22:12

READING:  Matthew 22:1-14

Every Christian is at once called to salvation and to ministry. Christians minister because we are called of God. Sometimes a more specific calling is recognized to be on a person and that person is called out by his community to help equip other Christians to do better ministry. It is the responsibility of the church community to discern whether that calling should also include a transition from secular employment to paid full time ministry.

The Greek word for calling is kaleo which means “to call out loud or to invite.” By definition, others must issue an invitation or a call. I cannot invite myself to someone else’s wedding party. That is the prerogative of the host. God does the calling. A church community does the confirming.

Consider your own calling. Who’s calling you? What are they calling you to do? The notion of calling gets tricky with church planting because the church community is yet to form and therefore yet to call. But, if we are indeed called, we answer to someone in some way. To whom are you accountable? As the apostle Paul says, no one can preach unless they are sent. Who is sending you?

Many church planters are rogue, isolated and unaccountable. They have invited themselves to a party without receiving any invitation. Jesus once told a sobering parable about a guest who was not invited and not properly dressed. He was promptly removed from the party lest the guest of honor, his son, be dishonored.

Are you called of God? Has your calling been confirmed by a community? Are you accountable?

Thank you, Father, for calling me and for using others to confirm it. Help me to walk worthy of my high calling with integrity and proper submission. Amen.