Proverbs 10:32 NLT, ‘The lips of the godly speak helpful words…’
Proverbs 10:32 CEV, “If you obey the Lord, you will always know the right thing to say”.
Eph 4: 29 NKJV, “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers”.
Eph 4: 29 CEV, “Stop all your dirty talk. Say the right thing at the right time and help others by what you say”.
know that the ‘right thing you say will build somebody up. How do you feel when someone says something to you that puts you down? Then don’t do it to others! ‘Healing words give life, but dishonest words crush the spirit’ (Proverbs 15:4 NCV). You can crush someone with what you say, so be careful. Some of the people you meet each day need an emotional lift, so encourage them. ‘Good people know the right thing to say, but evil people only tell lies’ (Proverbs 10:32 NCV).
Don’t be the kind of person who pounces on a weakness in someone. Maybe you do it in a joking way, but you do it, and you enjoy doing it. In a cartoon, Charlie Brown is talking on the phone to a girl who says, ‘Guess what I’m running for? The Queen of the May at our school.’ Charlie Brown says, ‘That’s very interesting. Lucy has always been chosen at our school.’ The girl on the phone responds, ‘Your school has pretty low standards, huh, Chuck?’ After Charlie Brown hangs up, he looks at Lucy and says, ‘She says, “Congratulations!”‘ Now, that’s diplomacy! It’s also ‘supportiveness’.
How supportive are you? If God gave you a dollar for each kind word you said and took away a dollar for each unkind word you said, would you be wealthy or poor? When the brothers who betrayed Joseph knelt before him in Pharaoh’s palace, he held the power of life and death over them. But he forgave them, was gracious towards them, and promised to take care of them.
Supportive words can build a bridge in a strained relationship. So the word for today is – build people up.
