Words of Encouragement

Ephesians 4:29 
Don't use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. (NLT)

Why is it that when people visit someone in the hospital they talk about all the other people they know that are sick or have been in the hospital? And even about people who have died with the same condition the person they are visiting is dealing with.

It reminds me of the story about the person who comes to work feeling really good. Had a good nights sleep and a great breakfast. The drive in was uneventful and he is ready for a good day. The first person who sees him remarks, "Are you feeling alright? You look like you had a tough night!" Wow, he sonders to the restroom and checks himself in the mirror.

My mother used to tell that "if don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all." And yet we find it so easy to say just the wrong thing so often. God, forgive us.

The definition of foul or abusive language sure has changed over the last half century. What a commotion it caused when those words "I don't give a damn" were used in Gone with the Wind. What an uproar that made. Then look where we are now. Todays PG-13 flicks are filled with much worse language. It is like the movie could not tell the same story without the expletives. I don't think so.

So we should be watching our words in a couple of ways. Simply stated, we need to keep them clean and encouraging. Anything less is not shining the light of Jesus everywhere we go.