Day 56: if You Don’t have Something Good to Say . . .

The Lord hates six things; in fact, seven are detestable to him: arrogant eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that plots wicked schemes, feet eager to run to evil, a lying witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up trouble among brothers. Proverbs 6:16–19

No foul language should come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear. Ephesians 4:29

Don’t criticize one another, brothers and sisters. Anyone who defames or judges a fellow believer defames and judges the law. If you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. James 4:11

A friend recently sent me a few blogs and websites—ones in which confessing Christians are spending lots of time and energy disparaging other Christ-followers. One of them even boasted a public list of “false prophets” that included my name, and it broke my heart. Not because I was accused of being a false prophet (frankly, I was thrilled to be included on a list that was filled with many godly women I love and respect), but because another precious image-bearer was choosing to live such a small, embittered life spewing judgment and sewing discord instead of living the abundant, preferring-others-for-the-sake-of-the-Gospel kind of life Jesus died to provide for us.

I can’t help wondering how much it grieves our Redeemer when we spend more time eviscerating each other for having minor doctrinal differences than we do exulting about the unconditional love of Jesus Christ that saved our sorry behinds, sharing the living hope of the Gospel with the wounded world around us, and caring for the poor and marginalized. Therefore, it did my heart especially good in the days that followed to visit a wonderful church in Mississippi with a bunch of women from very diverse ethnic and denominational backgrounds, all worshiping the One true God, King JESUS, who is a friend of sinners! May we all follow their lead and major on the majors in this life, uniting together to praise our King while we still have breath in our lungs. Selah.

• What percentage of words that fall out of your mouth—or through your fingers on social media—would you estimate give grace to those who hear them?
• What usually triggers you to use your speech for discord or quarreling instead of encouragement and edification?
• How can you better prepare for this trigger so that you are ready the next time it pops up in your life?