Speak with Kindness

This week my oldest girls and I have been studying the power of the tongue during our homeschool devotional study.  We've been studying Beautiful Girlhood and also using The Companion Guide to Beautiful Girlhood.  They are both included in our homeschool curriculum, and so far, our studies have been very convicting, moving, and helpful.  This week, we have been admonished to "think twice before you speak once".  What a good reminder and helpful saying.

Oh, how our words can heal, wound, or break down others.  I know I have been guilty of not always speaking in a kind manner to my children.  It is natural (in my flesh) to become irritated when they have not been obedient or seem intent on bickering and arguing--especially when I have not had enough sleep.  But this ought not to be.

We studied James 3 and all it has to say about the tongue.  There is not much good in there about it!  Though the tongue is a little member, it is a fire and can do much, much damage.  How we need the Lord to help us.  We mamas need the Holy Spirit to remind us to not react with a harsh tone to our dear children.  Even when they are naughty, we can still instruct them with kindness.  We need to show them the grace that we ourselves need and have received from the Father.

Sometimes I am stunned at the way a person can speak so unkindly to another.  It hurts badly, doesn't it?  Those words, though they don't cause physical damage, wound our being and inner person.  We carry them around in our memories and play them back as if they were true.  Witnessing such thoughtless remarks reminds me how I fail and need to do better.  I want to be an encourager to my children, leading them always on the straight path, with fortitude and humility.  And how I need God's help to do it!

We should do our best to think kindly of one another.  Out of our hearts, our mouth speaks.

God, give us grace and mercy and help us to do what is right and to have pure hearts before You.

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P.S.  So neat!  I was just looking through my blog list and noticed that June from A Wise Woman Builds Her Home and Jacque from Deep Roots at Home both wrote recently on the power of our words and how to use them properly!  You can check out their posts by clicking on their blog names.