30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God [do not offend or vex or sadden Him], by Whom you were sealed (marked, branded as God's own, secured) for the day of redemption (of final deliverance through Christ from evil and the consequences of sin).
31Let all bitterness and indignation and wrath (passion, rage, bad temper) and resentment (anger, animosity) and quarreling (brawling, clamor, contention) and slander (evil-speaking, abusive or blasphemous language) be banished from you, with all malice (spite, ill will, or baseness of any kind).
32And become useful and helpful and kind to one another, tenderhearted (compassionate, understanding, loving-hearted), forgiving one another [readily and freely], as God in Christ forgave you.
How much meat there is in that passage! How different our world would be if we let no unwholesome talk come out of our mouth and only spoke when it was good and beneficial and gave blessing and grace to those who heard it. I am REALLY going to work on this. I want to speak LIFE, not curses over others. I want my heart to overflow with genuine affection and interest. I want my words to encourage and inspire rather than tear down.
It seems to be the hardest to those closest to me. I am really going to work on my words spoke to and before Abby Kate and Bobby.
3. I want to speak scripture over Abby Kate. Deut. 6:6 says “These words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
I so desire to follow this command! I am doing a study where the author talks of speaking scripture over her children when she tucks them in at night. With my toddler, she doesn't lay still very often so if you have ideas on how to do this, I would love to hear them!
5 comments:
Steph,
Thank you so much for writing this. I battle the same thing every day, and I really have to be on my guard working with these kids, who more than likely receive the only kind of positive, love-filled words from me.
Gloria
What study are you doing? I'm in Week 2 of a study called "Can We Talk?" and the first week was over that very same stuff! I've been convicted of the VERY SAME things...thank goodness for God's grace! I will be praying for you in this area! Love you, sister!
Just found your blog...and am so excited...pretty sure you are leading the study I just enrolled in on Thursday mornings. Can't wait! I love your posts.
LOVE this post Steph! I do have a suggestion that I use for my own wiggly toddler. Ethan's life verse is Joshua 1:9, because his name means strong and courageous. I worked at a day care forever ago, and we sang that verse as a little song all the time. Now E and I sing it, even the "Joshua 1:9" at the end. When Abby has to memorize verses for church we do the same thing. When I'm making it up I do it to a tune they know, like Mary had a Little Lamb, so it's something familiar. Doesn't even need to rhyme. It works!
Nancy
PS. If you're lucky I might sing you the Joshua song one day :)
Steph, I loved this blog and gain so much from it, as my mouth is my biggest struggle. I am searching for a new personal study to do daily-any ideas? I'm so proud to call you friend and learn from you! Amber WRIGHT!!!
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