Key Verse: Ephesians 4:29 “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.” The average person speaks approximately 13,000 to 16,000 words per day. Some people who like to talk a lot, speak almost 120,000 words each day! That’s a lot! God make us to communicate with one another, and gave the ability to have vast vocabularies and complex through processes. However, many of us are guilty of misusing the gift of communication. Paul understood this issue and thus he offers us a very simple and applicable exhortation. He exhorts us to make sure that the words we use are good and God honoring. We should not use foul language, or tell dirty jokes, because they are not edifying to the body of Christ. The Greek word here that is translated as corrupt would be used to describe rotten fruit, or rotten trees. If you’ve ever eaten rotten fruit you know that it is nasty, it does harm to those who eat it. The same is true of ‘rotten’ talk. When we are profane, unkind, or dishonest in our speech it causes great harm to the hearers. Instead our talk is to be graceful and edifying to the hearers. The idea of speech being edifying is speech that builds someone up. We all have been guilty of using words to tear someone down. Instead we need to use our language to build others up. Even when others don’t deserve it we should use our ability to communicate to build them up and encourage them to be more like Christ. God gave us the ability to speak, the same ability He has. This gift is one of the things that separates us from animals. While animals have the ability to communicate as base levels such as mooing, grunting, and barking, we have the ability to have complex conversations about a plethora of different things. We must make sure we use this gift to build others up! Make a decision to speak life to those around you today even if they don’t deserve it!
