Gracious Words

What percentage of your speech yesterday was negative, sarcastic, or condescending?

This is the question that greeted me in my devotional this morning. Talk about a slap in the face. Not that I consistently smack talk people throughout the day. That’s not the part that got me. What I struggle with is the sarcasm aspect of that question. I don’t know why I love sarcasm so much…maybe because I like to crack jokes, maybe it’s because I avoid being authentic, maybe I should be lying on a couch talking to my therapist about this instead. By the way, I don’t really have a therapist, but I thought that sounded funny there. OK, I think I figured out which one of those it is!

Anyways…sarcasm does not build anyone up. It is not gracious speech. Gracious words do not exist inside sarcasm. Translation…it’s not good. One thing that I do is sarcastically argue with my husband. We aren’t “real” fighting, but we are “play” fighting. What purpose does this have? None. There is no possible way that our “play” bickering can increase the affection we have for each other.

In the book, The Love Dare, I found a great quote about what to do in situations like the one I just described. “More than biting your lip, more than clapping a hand over your mouth, patience is a deep breath.” I love that. Patience is a deep breath. Just take a deep breath and don’t say anything! I need to work on keeping my mouth shut and increasing the gracious things that I say.

“Gracious speech is like clover honey-good taste to the soul, quick energy for the body.” Proverbs 16:24 (The Message)

“Thoughtlessness is a silent enemy to a loving relationship.”

-       The Love Dare