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In Order. Words Kindle or Kill

June 17, 2017. Proverbs 25-26

In Order. Words Kindle or Kill

Oh how fun it is to deal with people at times.  It is not always easy and it is not always fun, but it has to be done.  Whether it is your job that you have to deal with people on a daily basis, or you are a people person, or are in the ministry in one way or another; there is always a time where talking to someone and having some type of relationship with them has to be done. 

Proverbs 25 and 26 have some great tips on how to deal with people in different scenarios and tells us how our words can affect them. The first example can be found in Proverbs 25: 21-22

21 If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat;
    if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.
22 In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head,
    and the Lord will reward you.

Ever heard the phrase “kill them with kindness”? That is what these verses are referring to.  There are times when someone is just going to rub you the wrong way or there is that one person you cannot stand or hates you for  a reason you cannot fathom.  In those instances instead of finding all the little things that irk you and drive you crazy, try and find a good thing to compliment them on and watch how that simple act of kindness will take them off guard and melt a little of that armor away. Or it may make them mad as if you just heaped burning coals on their head.  Either way you are doing what God calls us to do and that is love our neighbor and speaking love to someone who may not always receive it. 

The second one can be found in Proverbs 26: 20-22

20 Without wood a fire goes out;
    without a gossip a quarrel dies down.
21 As charcoal to embers and as wood to fire,
    so is a quarrelsome person for kindling strife.
22 The words of a gossip are like choice morsels;
    they go down to the inmost parts.

Again with the fire. It is so easy to get sucked into gossip, one minute you are catching up on a friends weekend, the next think you know you are gossiping about that one person who did that over the weekend.  The more we feed into the gossip the harder it is to stop it.  We have a choice to continue gossiping or to stop it in its tracks.  We have the ability to stop an argument, gossip, plain old lies from spreading like wild fire.  Our words can either kindle the flames of gossip and fighting or kill them from spreading.  What we say has power, what we say can affect those around us more than we thought possible, our words take root in those around us. 

Challenge yourself today to keep kind and encouraging words on your heart and mind and watch how it affects the words you speak to the people around you.  

Andrea Fite

Andrea is a wife to an amazing man, mother to a sweet little boy, Christ following, coffee addicted, book-loving woman. She grew up as a missionary and pastor’s kid, and learned at a young age that...more