God Hears Before We Speak

May my spoken words and unspoken thoughts be pleasing even to you, 

O Lord my Rock and my Redeemer.

Psalm 19:14 

 

Did you know that God is the God of Encouragement?  Think about how many times Scripture reminds us to take care in what we think and what we say.  Why? Because what we say comes from what we think.  

 

Bearing that in mind, before we speak ask yourself if God will be honored by what you say, and how you say it?  How would WE feel if the same was said to us in the same manner we say it to others?  Are our words and thoughts encouraging and uplifting of others or do they discourage and belittle others?  And if our words are discouraging, are we strong enough to apologize for speaking them?

 

It's easy to become frustrated and vent without thinking first.  I'm guilty of that at times.  But I have also learned, and am still learning, to apologize if my words have offended someone or have been less than uplifting.   Think about the last time you snapped at someone...why was that?  Was God honored by it?  Or were your words discouraging (if they were spoken to you, how would you feel)?

 

God reminds us over and over to be encouraging of each other, to have unity of mind and heart, to build each other up.  Why?  Because the world will tear us down without batting an eye.  Yes, it takes effort and focused thought to be encouraging and to build someone up (sincerely).  Tearing people down just means the mind is in neutral or in a place it shouldn't be.

 

When I was in the Army, my Sergeant would remind us every day: "My job is to make YOU look good!  Because when YOU look good....I look good!"  If you look as good as those you have spoken to, how good would you look?

 

There is a Russian proverb that says: "Taste your words carefully before you spit them out!"

Let our words and our thoughts be focused on God so that we may be encouraging and building up!  

Are You Done Yet?

“But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’

Luke 14:28-30

 

 

When I was a child (my bride claims I still am a child in many regards, but we'll leave that right here), I had grand dreams of what I wanted to become when I grew up.  As I grew older (but not up - shout out to Jimmy Buffett), I began to pay closer attention to the people who worked in the fields in which I had an interest.  What I noticed was that there was a cost involved, whether personal, scholastic, emotional.

 

How sad is it to spend the wads of money to attend college and then decide going to class is not something want to do?  Yes, I speak from experience. Count the cost of that decision and you'll begin to see that my four year degree ended up taking me 5 years.  

 

Suppose you are building a house and you find out, in the middle of the project, that you hadn't counted on the roof costing so much?  

 

My Grampa told me, "When you plan to do something, expect it to cost 3 times what you thought and you'll probably be able to make it."

 

You see, God has given us a mission in life (sometimes more than one mission) and there is a cost involved that we must be willing to pay in order to complete what God has for us to do.  It may be that we have to sacrifice "fun time" in order to study.  It may mean that we have to sacrifice vacation time to help someone who needs us.  It might mean that we must sacrifice our great day so we can comfort someone in sorrow.

 

The point is, we are commanded by Christ to take into account the cost and finish what we start.