Often we may hear a mother telling her young child, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, then, just say nothing at all”. As adults, we also need to be reminded to “say something nice.” We are often quick to make comments or point out our own preferences about things others have done or should have done. We are all limited in our knowledge as to the facts and circumstances which have gone into someone else’s actions. James says in James 1:19, “This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger.”
The words we use and the manner in which we deliver them can cause either great hurt or be wonderfully uplifting; it depends greatly upon each one of us. Paul reminds us in Colossians 4:6, ” Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, … ” He further adds, “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear” (Ephesians 4:29).
Paul admonishes us to be a blessing to one another. “Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing” (1 Thessalonians 5:11). If we are keeping ourselves in check by doing these things, no one will need to tell us to “say something nice”.
There is a time to be critical and some have little trouble in finding that time. However, there is also a time to encourage and uplift and it seems that time is the one less found. Let’s all resolve to change that.
It is easy to find fault or be critical of things you may observe, but remember that there may be much more to the matter than you will ever know. Trust that your fellow Christians only mean the best for you and be quick to be considerate and kind. How blessed we are to have each other for our church family.
For the elders, Gregg Woodall