S2 E30 - Just a Kind Word

Well, we're back to an abnormal schedule again (hence the late drop for the episode). My wife somehow contracted the flu, and prayers on her behalf are appreciated, especially while pregnant. Poor thing is miserable, so I'm back doing full time dad & work duty for this week. Today just wasn't going well, all the small things just weren't going right. That's when the kids came up to me with a toy that records their voices and told me to press the button. "I love you daddy" it played back. I was touched. In addition to some kind words from my wife, my whole day turned around on account of their kindness. Well...as Christians, kindness is an important quality for us to practice, especially with our words. With our words we have the power to tear down or to build up. You can change someones day, life, or even their eternity through your words. How will you choose to use them? 

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Transcript

Hey everybody, and welcome back to the Set Your Mind Above Podcast! I’m your host BJ Sipe – I’m a Christian, a preacher, a husband, and a father. In this podcast we take everyday, ordinary events and explore how they can teach us extraordinary, eternal truths. I’m so glad that you joined me for this episode. Now, let’s open up our minds, our hearts, and our Bible’s together. 

Well, just when we thought we were finally getting our feet back underneath of us and finding a routine, something came up this weekend to throw us back out of routine. Kylie started feeling very poorly early Sunday morning and so she stayed home, and at first, I simply chalked it up to a rougher day with her usual pregnancy sickness. But after getting home in the afternoon from worship, it became very apparent that this was no normal sickness. She called our OBGYN who requested for Kylie to go to the urgent care and be tested for several different things first thing Monday morning. As it turns out, somehow, somewhere, she contracted the flu. The poor thing is absolutely miserable. Being pregnant and having the flu can be very serious if your temperature and hydration are not monitored closely, so we are staying on top of it and rotating plenty of liquids and Tylenol in her. We are double quarantined right now, as Kylie is quarantined in the room away from the myself and the kids, and then the kids and I are staying put and not going anywhere either. We certainly don’t want to spread anything in case one of us came down with it. A slight hiccup, but needless to say at least for this week, we are back to abnormal once again – so please bear with me if these podcasts drop later in the day than usual. That being said, this morning was just a rougher morning. I woke up on the couch to both of the kids up already with their little faces hovering over me, which would have been adorable if they weren’t also already fighting with each other. The laundry was stacking up, I was trying to get work down while getting the kids what they needed, I burned stuff on the stove as it overflowed by accident, it just wasn’t going right. And you know those days where nothing serious is wrong, but all the small things just kind of pile up until you just feel defeated? That was me today. I sat down on the couch with a cup of coffee to just collect myself for a few minutes while the kids were in the room playing. Just a few moments later, the kids came around the corner with this smirk on their faces, and I knew they were up to something. “What have you guys been doing?” I asked as they approached, hiding something behind their back. “Here you go daddy, press the button!” Ava said as she handed me a small, plastic toy bird. This toy she had handed me whistles and tweets at you, but if you hold down the button on the front of it’s chest it allows you to record your voice and play it back at a higher pitch. I pressed the button, and the kids voices together said over the little speakers, “we love you daddy”. Instant tears. I set my coffee down and grabbed each one with an arm and lifted up onto my lap and gave them a long, tight hug. It just blew my mind that my children, 3 & 2 years old, had the wherewithal to recognize that it wasn’t my best day and that I needed to be told “I love you.” No sooner did this happen before my phone pinged to see that my wife had tagged me in a post on Facebook. I thought it would be a link to an interesting article or some funny video, but no, it was the sweetest, kindest post showing her appreciation for the way I’ve been doing my best to care for her and the kids. It was beyond sweet, and certainly more gracious than I deserved. I picked my coffee back up and said a prayer thanking God for my family. Suddenly, my day that had been frustrating and overwhelming didn’t feel so bad anymore. Nothing had changed, and yet, everything had changed – all because of the kind words from my wife & my children when I needed them most. 

I thought more about this into this evening as the rest of the day turned out much better than it had started, and how the turning point was the moment my children & my wife had shared their kind words with me. Obviously, as Christians we understand the importance of kindness in our lives. As a matter of fact, Paul would tell us in 1 Corinthians 13 that love is kind. But more specifically, I wanted to dwell more on the different ways that we are instructed to be kind with our words. Naturally, the Proverbs were the first place that I looked. Consider the following Proverbs, and what they teach us about our words. “The tongue that heals is a tree of life, but a devious tongue breaks the spirit.” (Proverbs 15:4) “Pleasant words are a honeycomb: sweet to the taste and health to the body.” (Proverbs 16:24) “From the fruit of a person’s mouth his stomach is satisfied; he is filled with the product of his lips. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” (Proverbs 18:20-21) “A word spoken at the right time is like gold apples in silver settings.” (Proverbs 25:11) Clearly, God is concerned with the way in which we speak to one another. Our words have great power in them, and how we choose to use them will determine what that power will be used for: tearing someone down, or building someone up. Unfortunately, we live in a world where every time you tune into social media, the news, or the radio, words are being used to tear others down. What started as a good day suddenly turns to a bad day because of the way that someone spoke to you, the turning point was their harmful or harsh words. Those who profess to be children of God are called to a higher standard with our speech, and if we desire to love others, one of the first places that must start is with our words. You have the power to change someone’s day through kind words, just as my children and my wife did for me. But in actuality, you have the power to do so much more than that. Through kind words, you have the power to reaffirm truth in the life of someone who has believed a lie. Through kind words, you have the power to comfort someone who is mourning. Through kind words, you have the power to strengthen someone who is discouraged. Through kind words, you even have the power to share salvation with a soul that is lost, for there are no kinder words that we can share with another than the very gospel of Jesus Christ. Most of us probably grew up hearing the old adage, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words could never hurt me.” If that’s not the biggest lie I ever heard growing up! Our words have great power, not just to hurt, but also to heal. This is why Paul encourages us in Colossians 4:6, “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person,” and again in Ephesians 4:29-32, “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. And don’t grieve God’s Holy Spirit. You were sealed by him for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander be removed from you, along with all malice. And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.” Did you catch that? If we use our words to hurt others, not only will we grieve others, but we will even grieve the Holy Spirit in doing so. But when we allow our speech to always be gracious, to build others up through kindness, not only will we give healing to others, but it is pleasing to the Spirit. So my friends, what kind of words will you choose to use today? I pray that we all, with hearts full of love & compassion, can set out to show grace to everyone we see today through our kind words. Who knows, your small words of kindness might just make a big difference. 

Thank you for tuning in to today’s episode, and I would invite you back Tuesdays-Fridays for a brand-new episode each day. If you haven’t already, be sure to find us on Facebook for occasional announcements and special video sessions. If you have benefited from this podcast, please if you’re able be sure to share it with someone else that you think could benefit from it as well. Until next time, know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each & every day set our minds above.