“Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.”
I love this verse for so many reasons. The Oxford dictionary defines gracious as, “courteous, kind, and pleasant.” How great are those three words. Who doesn’t want to be spoken to in that manner? My word for the year and perhaps the rest of my life is ‘kind’. I believe what the world is crying out for is kindness. To be treated kindly is powerful. To be spoken to kindly is spirit impacting. It is, as Solomon puts it, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. The wise understand that it is not just the sharing of wisdom that has a powerful impact on a life. It is how those words of wisdom are shared. When done in anger it is more often the anger that is heard. Similarly when shared in gracious and kind words and tones, even when the words are not fully grasped, the hearers soul is blessed and calmed. Contrary to the childhood rhythm about sticks and stones we all have been hurt by words. We may even have been guilty of hurting another with our words. I know I sure have. Recently I stood in a long line for the only open checkout lane at Walmart. As those in line began to grumble someone quickly mentioned how challenging it must be to have to be the line checkout person working at that moment. Then they told that staff how much they appreciated them coming in to work that day so they could buy the items they needed. The person smiled like the sun just came out from behind the clouds. Others took up the message. Someone in line was heard to say , “it’s so much easier to be kind than mean. Lots of nods. Today let’s bless others with well thought out gracious words. #BeTheEdge
“Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.” James 3:10 NIV
