As we intermingle with family, co-workers, neighbors and
strangers, we have an occasion to live out God's Holy Word. While we learn to
prefer others over our self, the nine fruit of God's Holy Spirit develop in us (Galatians
5:22-23).
Living as a channel of God's Agape love improves our
relationships. This makes us, not only a cherished friend, but also a conduit
for God to love others through us. We simply keep our focus on Him and not our
self.
Good advice that is hard to follow is James' advice to be
quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to express anger (James 1:9). However,
the more information we garner concerning the facts and perspective of the
person we are communicating with, the less likely we are to over-react
negatively.
God's Word is not very complimentary when speaking about
the human tongue. James describes it as restless, evil and full of deadly
poison. We tend to slay one another with critical remarks, and we hurt one
another with our angry words.
When we gossip, we cause discord in our relationships as
well as in other relationships as the gossip spreads, grows out of proportion
and eventually loses all credibility due to embellishments and people changing
the facts.
Personality clashes or differences in perspectives, goals
and philosophy of life, bring out the worst in us all. We are focused more on
our self than on God and His purpose for our relationships.
We can always rely on God to improve our connections with
Him and others in our life. As we surrender to His transforming power within us,
He reveals our pride, condescension, and our lofty opinion of our self. He also
reveals to us our negative attitudes and woundedness.
Then, if we are willing to cooperate with Him, He heals
us from the inside out and helps us to exhibit kindness, goodness,
self-control, patience and the full gamut of God's spiritual fruit.
Prayer:
Father God, You want to use our tongue to bring unity in our
relationships, to plan blessings to share with others, and to heal our body and
soul (Proverbs 12:18). Inspire us to live a more spiritual life and to grow in
our intimacy with You: to make You the priority of our life, to live in the
center of Your will for us, and to accomplish the work You created us to do
(Ephesians 2:10).
When we rely on You for all of our needs, our
relationships improve, we learn to humble our pride, and we stop looking down
on others to build up our self. Then, You can heal us from our negative
attitudes and poor self-esteem. We look to Jesus as the author and finisher of
our faith (Hebrews 12:1-3) to lead us in Your peace, joy and love; and we
cooperate with Your Spirit as He exchanges our carnality with His fruit
(Galatians 5:22-23).
Thought for the Day:
God guards our tongue if we live a life surrendered to
Him; His strength in us is made perfect in our weakness, and His power rests on
those who walk in His ways. - 2 Corinthians 12:9
