What's happening to me?

Words are pretty powerful things. And it's really easy to throw them around at times, without considering the effect they may have. In Ephesians 4:29, Paul gives us some guidance about the words that we use:

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. (NIV)

Now that's a pretty bold thing to say. Don't let any unwholesome talk, but only that which is helpful to others? I think Paul has good reason for giving us this piece of advice.

I was hanging with some mates on Thursday night - let's name them Tom and Jerry. We'd gone out to Spencer Village to enjoy some asian cuisine, and in the car on the way home Tom and I were joking about an incident that happened to Jerry almost a year ago. At the time we were completely oblivious to the fact that this was a pretty soft spot for Jerry, and our joking made him quite upset because it reminded him of the difficulty he experienced at the time.

We'd become a bit flippant with our words. We'd forgotten how our words can either build up or tear down... and tonight our words had torn down our good friend Jerry's spirit. We apologised to Jerry for the things we'd said, we hung for a bit longer and then we all headed home. Tom and I felt pretty trashy about what had just happened.

This whole situation could have been easily avoided if we were more careful with the words we said. If we'd considered if what we were saying was helpful for building Jerry up, according to his needs, I think the conversation would have taken a different route. And it made me realise that Paul tells us this to encourage us to use our words to the benefit of those around us. If we spoke to benefit others, then we wouldn't slander or gossip or ridicule. If we spoke to benefit others, then we wouldn't whinge or complain or speak negatively.

I must be more particular with the words that I allow to come out of my mouth, and I am working to become more sensitive to those around me.

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On a side note, I found a book at a mate's place that brought back some memories:



Gotta love learning about puberty.

Too casual?