From time to time, Pastor Lamb allows me to post here. Today is part one of a two part post. Bill Davis
Let the
words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord my strength, and my redeemer. (Psalms 19:14) KJV
This
scripture is often used as part of a closing prayer by Rich Hulsey, our Worship
Pastor, and probably by a lot of others, as well. When I was growing up, the youth group we
had, called "Lifeliners," used this verse almost like a pledge. We recited it every time we came together.
Those
words were certainly meaningful to me back then; I prayed them with my mouth
and my heart. As I read, or pray or
think of them today, it is with a completely different and deeper meaning than
they had back then.
Do
I really pay attention to what I say in everyday conversation?
I
remember the first time I was in a setting where there were several Jewish
people. (I really didn’t think very much
about it, other than I had never knowingly been around observant Jews
before.) I vividly remember saying
something that I had heard all my life, but had never even thought of it being
a slur to Jews…… At that moment I
realized that it was.
Words
often are thought to be a small thing when they are said; they are so fleeting
but their effect can do harm that you can never
undo. My mother and my wife have said, “you can’t un-ring a bell.”
Although interacting with others is a critical part of our
lives, we need to be ever mindful of how we do it. Paul wrote to the church in Colossae:
Let your speech be always with
grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. Colossians
4:6 (KJV)
The
New Century Version says: When you talk,
you should always be kind and pleasant so you will be able to answer everyone
in the way you should. Colossians 4:6 (NCV)
When we were
children, we learned to speak. We spend
the rest of our lives learning how to choose our words and have power over our
tongues, with God’s help.
Part
2 Next week…..
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