Hello Baysiders! Hope all is well in your souls on this sunny May day.
I am excited to be at the cusp of summer, where swimming, BBQ’s, late nights, and watermelon are in season. (To be truthful, I am really excited to bring out my Rainbow sandals from the closet and regularly wear them). What are your favorite aspects about summer? For many its a time for vacation, rest or leisure time with family and close friends; for others it’s a time for more work, summer school, and busyness with no fun. However you face this summer, let’s do it with joy in our hearts and not rely on the sun for the only sunshine in our lives. What if you can be the sunshine for someone else’s cold winter? It’s what we can be by how we talk to one another. Words matter. A short sweet compliment can put a smile on someone’s face and joy in the heart. A sour comment can cause the dark clouds to rain on someone and bring insecurity or discouragement. This summer, can we bless others in our lives with the sunshine from our words?
In a world with a 24/7 news cycle, nonstop social media posts, and the countless of words passing through your brain, being conscience with how and what we say to each other is critical for warming up someone with our words. If we are honest with ourselves, its much easier to say what we feel on the spot than to stop, and think how to respond to someone. Holding my tongue has to be the hardest undertaking for me to do. Holding back any word is easier said than done, especially with my personality because I am a typically a brash and presumptuous person. But my personality has no say so in God’s agenda, he wants me to be prudent and show discretion when I communicate. How can I ever be sunshine for anyone if I cover my sun rays with my loose tongue? I can’t be the only one with this problem because all our tongues can be a loose canon. James from the Bible says, “…no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison,” (James 3:8).
There is hope though, wise Solomon tells us, “He who guards his lips guards his life,” (Prov 13:3). Verbal sunshine is only done by considering our words before we burp them out. When we stop, consider the matter before us, we can use our words appropriately and create beauty, truth, good, not hurt, dishonesty or destruction. The wise thing for our words is to guard our hearts and minds because thats where our words come from. The person who watches what they say and thinks before speaking will avoid trouble. Are you dissing people, bringing them down or are you encouraging people, bringing them up. Being wild with your words can be demeaning to other people and put you in a position where you are imprisoned with your words. Use wisdom when you communicate. Don’t get caught up and twisted in mindless jargon. As someone once said, “The words you speak today should be soft and tender, for tomorrow you may have to eat them.” Be the sunshine with your words for someone, its how you can have a great summer.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Aaron ?:^)