No matter how awesome we decorate, how clean everything is, and how great our house is we can destroy our home with the strongest weapon of all: THE TONGUE
So let's imagine if we had a little recorder following us everywhere we went recording our words. Oh boy! Would we be ashamed? Or would we be happy to let people hear it? The problem is we do have that recorder. It's God. We can't hide anything from him.
It's really scary to think of the damage we can do with our mouth.
I remember being maybe 10 years old and visiting my dad the one time in life that we actually did. I still can hear his words clearly and I am 35 now. I wrote what they were but decided to delete them. Let's just say we can really hurt people and tear them down with our words.
I am 35 now and I still remember those words. I am a Christian and I know God loves me and I still remember those words. There is no excuse to be walking with God and not have our tongues under control of the spirit. Our feelings have to be under control. If feelings control our responses we will always be unstable. It's time to stop saying things we wish we had not said. To lift up, and build up, to be kind when correcting, think before we speak and if we can't then stay silent instead.
Proverbs 31:26
When she speaks,her words are wise,
and she gives instructions with kindness.
I want to add to this. We can find something good in every single person alive. God made them and there is something good in them. We can find it and lift them up with it. We can kick start positive energy that builds more positive energy off of it's own flow.
ReplyDeleteWORDS - This is one I need to work on from time to time. This is not necessarily about using profanity but about letting our emotions dictate our reactions to the bound-to-crop-up irritations we all run into. whether it be in traffic, in the classroom, or at home with our spouse or other loved ones. I will say that almost any time I express my frustration with words that are hurtful, I immediately stop myself - which results in an apology. However, I know that an apology is like a band-aid; it is a "quick fix" but the wound is already there.
ReplyDeleteI like the way this study is divided into topics. Deniz, I'm also glad you set it up as a blog as it's something we can always return to when we need to be reminded of what we need to do to work on our relationships as much of it is pertinent to every person we deal with in our lives, not just our spouse. However, I do believe our relationship with our spouse is the heart of our home and it transfers over to our children. I speak as someone who went through a divorce because my ex (Deniz's dad) was both physically and emotionally (verbally) abusive, often due to his being an alcoholic. I tolerated his abuse for considerably more than a decade because I was raised to believe that divorce was not an option. I was wrong. Once I found out he was also having affairs, I realized that our marriage was not a marriage in the eyes of God. I never regretted the decision I made to end this so-called "marriage". Though initially there was a void in our lives, the ultimate result was a safe and peaceful home life.
And isn't it sad that sometimes the harshest words that come out of us are directed at those that are supposed to be closest to us? It's true that alot of the time we reserve our nicest words and attitudes for strangers and acquaintances while not even hesitating to use hurtful words or thoughtless remarks in our own homes.
ReplyDelete