Did I Really Say That?

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

Words will make or break every relationship that we have. Our words will either draw people to us, or they will push people away. Words…written or spoken…carry great weight in our lives. Words—spoken with grace, seasoned with salt.

Have you ever given any thought to how your words come across to the people in your life? I certainly have. For me, when I blow it, it’s not so much “what” I say, it’s “how” I say. Has that ever happened to you?

In today’s verse, God is encouraging us to let our words, “always be with grace.” Isn’t it amazing it think that it’s possible for the grace of God to be extended to people through our words? Our words can actually build people up. Or on the flip side, our words can be spoken without grace, and therefore they can tear people down. Even if you need to speak words of correction to someone you can season those words with salt. That just means we can frame our words in such a way that even though they are corrective, they can be easily swallowed, or heard.

In Matthew 12:37 (NKJV) Jesus said, “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Can you see that we will be judged by the very words that we say? And really, we could say that our lives today can be judged by how we talk to, and about people. Our words will either justify us or they will condemn us. I don’t know about you, but I want my words to always be filled with enormous amounts of God’s grace, and seasoned with heavenly inspired salt. How about you? Every minute of every day we choose to either use positive or negative words.

In Ephesians 4:29 (NKJV) we are reminded again of the power contained in our words. It says, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouths, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.” So here we see it again, our words can either edify or build people up, or our words can be used to tear people down.

Here’s today’s challenge. Let’s take inventory of all the words that we say today and the tone that we use to deliver them. Let’s see if we can change the quality of our worlds as we change the quality of our words.