This is gonna hurt!

Fallen down lately? I did!  After skirting black ice throughout our entire two-mile walk on one of those cold, icy mornings I let my guard down for a second and went head first at the end of our driveway.  As if in slow motion, my mind whirred as first my knees, then my wrists, and finally my chin hit the sidewalk with one thought:  This is going to hurt!

We don’t heal as fast as we used to!  The skinned chin is all healed, the scraped knees will scar and still hurt to the touch and, the worst, the sprained wrist has to be babied.  Accidents happen so quickly, without warning, and can cause injury that can hurt for days, months, and, yes, years in the future.

The same can be said about the words that come out of our mouths.  One word or a few words spoken without thought of how it will effect the other person can cause injuries that will take days, months, and, often, years to heal; some cause such injury they never fully heal.

Our all-knowing Father knew we would have a problem with this.  He has quite a description of the tongue and the words we say in the book of James.  He describes the tongue as a small part of the body, but like a spark of fire, can result in devastation.

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness…this should not be.  James 3:9-10

In working with couples and families one of our main areas of focus is on communication.  That entails going through a process of forgiveness (asking and giving) for past poor communication and teaching on how to communicate effectively (being understood without hurting others with your words in the process.)

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths,

but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs…  Ephesians 4:29

Sounds simple, right?  Actually, it’s quite a job!  So many past hurts and little understanding on how to change.  But thankfully we have an awesome God who can help!  We have seen Him change a seemingly hopeless home into a thriving relationship, which can light the way for others.

Which brings us to our prayer requests.  Our desire is that in all we do, we do in His name (Colossians 3:23) and will make the most of every opportunity (Colossians 4:5-6).  Please pray that God will open doors for our message and that we would proclaim it clearly.