Speech Patterns

Jerry Clower, the Southern Humorist from Yazoo City, Mississippi, once told a story that went like this:

One young man in the local church was terrible about bragging all the time. His was always the biggest fish, the fastest car, the best deal in town, or the funniest story. No matter what anyone else said, he always had something to top them.

One day the parents of the young man came to the pastor and asked him to try to help cure their son of the bragging. They decided to make up the biggest lie they could and concoct a story that just couldn’t be topped.

The preacher went to the young man and started telling him the story:

Son, we were in church the other day and right in the middle of the worship, the back door flew open and in walked the meanest and biggest grizzly bear I have ever seen. He was snarling and growling. People were screaming and running and dodging the swipe of his paws and it looked like we were in for a bad time.

Then suddenly, a little, tiny dog came running in the door. He started barking, growling, biting and jumped on the back of that bear and started chewing on that bears hide. The bear finally gave up and ran out the door with that little dog hot on his trail.

Son, do you believe that story I just told you to be the God’s honest truth?

The young man answered, “Yes I do. In fact, that was my dog.”

I’ve heard people in the church sit and brag about being “all that” when I knew for a fact that they weren’t really “all that” at all. God help us all, we just love to brag. Bragging is only the building up of self! We should build up others and build up Jesus Christ most of all.

We need to have the attitude of Paul that he presented to us in Philippians 3:8, "Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ…"

The only thing I have to brag about is that I’m saved by the Blood of Jesus and I’m a Child of the King!

Colossians 4:6, "Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man."

The speech patterns of a Child of God should always be filled with grace to those who hear us. We should watch every word we say, and every way in which we say them, so that whatever we say can only be helpful and encouraging to everyone around us. We should season them with salt so that those who hear us can better taste the love of Jesus Christ in us and better “swallow” what Jesus would have them to hear.

2 Timothy 1:13, "Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus."

If we are filled with the love of God through Jesus Christ, we can’t help but have love for other people. That love that we have for others will constrain us from speaking harshly or in ways that will harm them.

How many times have I heard Christians speak in such a manner that they came across as angry, or bossy, or abrasive? When our words come out of our mouth they should be as sweet as honey, not as bitter as lemons.