Building Others Up

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Ephesians 4:29

This verse has been a constant lesson and reminder for me this year. It is so easy to say something that I don't mean. Before I can stop it the deed is done and I have hurt someone that I love. There are several things that I get out of this verse. The first is that we must speak purely. We cannot speak words that would be dishonoring to our Lord. The second is How we talk.

Speak only what is helpful for building others up. We must only speak good things about others. If we cannot, then we must not speak of them at all. In other words, we must keep most of that stuff to ourselves. We can only speak of things if it blesses the person we are talking about. So we can only talk about others if it is good or if they are in need. The person who is listening must benefit from what I have to say. Well that leaves us with very little to say. I guess that is the whole point.

This should change the whole structure of how we talk and how we think. I fail at this often, but think of what a difference it would make if we all strove to do this? This will be a lesson that I will be practicing for a lifetime. Each time we open our mouths we have the opportunity to bless or hurt someone. Let's start building others up.