Words of Life.   Ephesians 4.29

 What if  …?

A mother’s words are tender and encouraging

A father says what is nurturing and instructive

A minister utters that which will connect you to the love of God

A priest speaks what will grow your faith stronger

A manager what is helpful

A coach that which will make you a better player

A friend reminds you they believe the best in you

A mate reiterates lasting love, and 

A neighbor offers to lend a hand

Hmmm .. all words of life.

An old tune runs through my mind that I sang as a wee girl, ‘sing them over again to me, wonderful words of life … let me more of their beauty see, wonderful words of life…’

Indeed, what if you and I communicated in a world where only words of life were spoken?  What would life be like?

What if we chose to use our words as gifts?

Rather than looking at Scripture verses about our speech from the negative—what not to say, how not to talk—but rather how to speak beneficially, how to choose words that are life-giving . . . that is our challenge!  For certain, Jesus is our role model as he spoke only what the Father gave him to say: “I don’t speak on my own. I say only what the Father who sent me has told me to say.”¹ And Paul said, “When we tell you these things … we speak words given to us by the Spirit.”²

A person's words can be life-giving water; words of true wisdom are as refreshing as a bubbling brook.³  

Say only what helps, each word a gift.⁴

The words of the godly are a life-giving fountain.⁵ 

Gentle words are a tree of life.⁶ 

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.⁷ 

And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds⁸

But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today"⁹  

Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.¹⁰ 

Indeed, before we turned the page to Ephesians chapter Five, I had to sound the trumpet and say aloud how valuable, how powerful, and how life-giving our words can be!  As Paul said in the latter part of Ephesians 4.29, our words ought be beneficial to those who listen—even to those are within the sound of our voice … hmmm, such a challenging, provocative thought—ah, that I might speak words that are beneficial, that add to a person’s existence … that you might speak words that give life!