Friday, December 3, 2010

Gentle Words

"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience." Colossians 3:12

The past two days I have written on how our words effect our kids and spouse.  This is something that God has really been placing on my heart lately.  Our words can make or break someone.  My sweet sister mentioned in her blog yesterday the old rhyme we all know, sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.  The truth is broken bones heal.  Hurtful words stick.  Once words are out of our mouth it is impossible to take them back.  They have a lasting effect. 

We will get angry and frustrated.  It is a fact.  How we deal with that anger and frustration is where it counts.  Recently I was in the store and my kids were acting up.  I was so frustrated with them and ready to get home that by the time I reached the check out I was a little rude with the clerk.  She did not deserve that.  Yesterday I shared my struggles with being rude with my husband when he doesn't deserve it. 

What about when we think they do deserve our harsh attitudes?  That is just it, we think.  Just because someone does us wrong does not mean they do deserve a harsh reaction from us. 

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

When someone hurts us our first reaction is to hurt them back.  Our spouse said something hurtful, so we say something hurtful back, then they retaliate by hurting us again, and the cycle goes on.  Proverbs 15:1 tells us to be gentle.  When someone is rude or down right mean to us, we should answer with a gentle word...even if we think they do not deserve it.

Our words and attitudes are so very important.  We need to stop and think before speaking and reacting.  Let's work on using kind words and gentle responses.  Let's speak in love.

Sweet Blessings~


P.S. Ladies, be sure to greet your husband with a hug and kind word today.  Set a peaceful and joyful tone for your home tonight. 

11 comments:

  1. I have really been thinking about this lately. I need to let my words be few. God won't let me forget that. Now I just need to be obedient.

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  2. Good morning Jenifer. I love Colossians 3:12... What a beautiful way to summarize how God wants us to live! As you noted, we all diverge from God's path now and again, but by stopping and thinking about how we're acting, we can certainly stay closer to the goal He has set for us. Thank you so much for this post, and have a Blessed Day!

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  3. This is so good, after we prayed last night, this morning God helped and guided my words to be more gentle towards John. God is so awesome!

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  4. Your posts have encouraged me all week. Thanks! So I totally understand about yelling at a clerk only mine bad attitude creamed through the Mcdonalds drive thru window. The kids were screaming in the back and they fella was not understanding my order so I snapped back and yelled "Three burgers NOW!" My misbehaving self screached her tires right on through/... God is dealing with me this week on this. Without the trials, we would never learn how to grow spiritual fruit.

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  5. Oh my...I guess I should read my comment before posting...what I meant to say was.."only my bad attitude screamed through the Mcdonalds drive thru window." MY goodness! This is what I do on a Friday night!!! No life

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  6. Kelli, I am the queen of typos and misspelled words! :)

    I am so glad you were encouraged this week. Like I said, this is something God is really teaching me right now. Blessings!

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  7. Sometimes it's just good to know we're not alone in this.. being a wife and a mom and trying to resemble His child in some way. Thank you for the wonderful encouragement. I'm sure I was less than lovely to the WinCo clerk today with my 3 children driving me mad. I love what Lysa Terkheaurst says "We may not be able to control our circumstances, but we can control our responses," that goes through my head all day long! Thanks for another great post Jenifer :) Happy Weekend!
    Heidi

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  8. I love Kelli's post! I'm so glad I'm not the only one guilty of that same thing!
    Thank you for these thoughts, Jenifer. It's so hard to maintain that double-edged sword that hurts and severs relationships. So important to remember, especially this time of year as family and friends gather.
    Thank you so much!

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  9. Nice post!

    I just found your blog through the Weekend Blog Hop! Have a great weekend.

    Amanda @ www.nutritionistreviews.com

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  10. Nice to meet you from WLW Peace on Earth Challenge.

    Looking forward to a peaceful month! Great post!

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