“A Gentle Word”

 

Pleasant words are like a honeycomb,

sweet to the soul and health to the bones. Proverbs 16:24a

 

In preparation for my work week each night I pack up the 13 vitamins that I know I must take the next day. When I get to my desk, I line them up sometime by color, or by size, or by what order I will be taking them. I stare at them, sometimes move them around because there are some in that pile that I really dread taking and don’t want to swallow. Yet, I know I don’t always eat well and need to ward off those nasty germs that float through an office and so I am diligent in following through. My “treat” to myself, usually almonds or grapes, gets lined up next to each vitamin as my “kind of goodie” to help me swallow them down. Plus, I truly believe it is the treat that helps me not to burp up the fish oil or garlic pills later in the day (and I am sure my co-workers are thankful for that!) Maybe I get that treat idea from a childhood memory of Mary Poppins (Julia Andrews) singing, “Just a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down”.

Our daily life can be similar to needing a spoonful of sugar or a treat. Doesn’t just a bit of kindness, gentleness, and the compassion we show to one another help to make our day a little bit more tolerable? Proverbs 16:24 tells us that pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones. Life is hard, people are stressed, and tempers seem shorter these days. Some of us have become like teapots on the stove with our angry whistles blowing and all we need is a gentle lift for things to settle down. I see that so clearly in the customer service job I have. A listening ear, a bit of patience, sharing a laugh, and a gentle voice goes a long way. The simple truth is that it doesn’t matter if they “deserve” it or not - it's my choice to do it or not. For what cost is it if we only give kindness to those who deserve it?

So what keeps us from readily giving people “that extra treat” to help swallow down what might be a hard day for them? Could it be that our pride gets in the way and that maybe we feel our rights have been violated and we are going to let others know it by our impatience?

I love God’s word here in Proverbs because in the original Hebrew language of the Old Testament, in which it was written, we are told that:

pleasant means - agreeableness, grace.

sweet means - it will be relished.

health means - cures, deliverance, sound, healing, wholeness.

The sincere grace we can extend is only empowered to us by God’s Holy Spirit. He is the one who makes us able to give to others once we have understood the grace we have also been given. Even though we seem to be extending that blessing to others, we ourselves are getting healthy by doing it. We are getting whole and our soul will relish with this grace given. These are NOT random acts of kindness like the world would have you believe. No, this is Spirit-led kindness, dying to our “fleshly wants and demands”, for the purpose of shining Christ. We must lay down “our rights” to get even, to feel vindicated by others, and choose instead to bear the cross of Christ. Let stuff go, God is your defender and He is your joy!

I surely don’t want to miss blessings that I can have for myself or those blessings given to others by choosing not to follow God’s ways. He can choose to give someone else that blessing if I deliberately ignore Him. Maybe today can be your day to give or take a “kind of goodie”, so that you will help others in swallowing the hard stuff that each day brings. In your silent prayer, ask God to show the way to bring those opportunities to bless others as you yourself receive blessings from the Lord. Remember, you cannot truly give what you have not received yourself.