A Woman of Wise Speech

I spent this past Friday evening and Saturday at the Northwest Women of Grace mini-conference here in Thunder Bay, and it was a refreshing, encouraging and challenging time.

The theme was "Becoming a Woman of Wise Speech", which is always a timely and appropriate area to focus on, especially as women, since conversation is such a huge part of our lives. The key verse was Proverbs 25:11 "A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver."

I was struck by the number of verses in Proverbs that address the way we speak and the areas in which we need to be changed to reflect the character and qualities that God wants to see in us and that will be of benefit to others around us.

Something else that stuck with me is a quote that was shared by our speaker, Janet Surette: "I am the master of the words I have not spoken and a slave to the words I should not have said."

Lord, may I allow You to guide my words so that I need not be ashamed or burdened by words that I ought  not to have said. There is so much in Your Word that teaches me in this area...

As Psalm 139:23-24 says, I need to allow God to "search me and know my heart," to "test my and know my thoughts; to see if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting." If I daily am willing to allow God to change my heart, then what flows out of the abundance of my heart will be pleasing and good.

James 1:19a says that "everyone should be quick to listen and slow to speak." This is an area where I need continual growth since I like to talk, and another quote that was shared that impacted me was "Seek not to be interesting, but to be interested." If I am truly interested in the other person rather than what I can say, then I will be more prone to listen and talk less.

Proverbs 15:28a says, "The heart of the righteous ponders how to to answer..." I need to think about a) what I would say before I say it, b) how to say it, and c) when I should say it.

Colossians 4:6 says to "let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person."

As Proverbs 22:17-18 says, I need to "incline [my] ear and hear the words of the wise, and apply [my] mind to [His] knowledge..." This will bring pleasing results in my interactions with others. I need to ask God for wisdom (James 1:5) and study and apply His Word to my life.

Ephesians 4:29 says "Let no 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."

Lord, please help me to choose to characterize people by the good in them rather than the negative; to praise them to others; to focus on the good and to verbally encourage others.