Words Like Honey

One of my favorite passages, albeit very convicting, in the Bible comes from James 3:9-12.

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

I've been thinking lately about the words we say, the way we say them and how our words make others feel. What comes out of our mouths has incredible power. We can make someone feel good or we can have the opposite effect. So I was wondering could I, not only avoid harsh words, but use words that could lift another's spirits.

Here's an example: I was actually not really looking forward to finding a dress for Cody and Elizabeth's wedding. My mom and I stopped in a store a while back and I tried some on a couple dresses and my mom summed it up perfectly when she said "These really aren't you are they?" She spoke the truth and said it in a very pleasing way.

Then one day, while at the Surgery Center, I was flipping through a magazine and lo and behold, there it was -- exactly the dress I was looking for. We had the store where I could get this dress right here at Jordan Creek Mall so I went to get it and -- better yet -- it was on sale. On glory! I could get the dress, a darling sweater to go with it and shoes for much less than the original price of the dress. Someone hold me down.

Here's where my word lesson comes in. People ask me about my dress, they ask me what color it is and I never really knew how to describe it. It's basically beige (ugh), but then I would say it has gold threads running through it (true) to make it sound nicer. Last week, I was getting my hair cut and making sure the true color was covered up and the adorable young lady who does my hair asked me about my dress. I started to describe it as beige, again, and she said, oh you mean champagne? I was, like, yesssssss, of course it's not beige, it's champagne. Doesn't that sound so much better?

One of my favorite movies is Pollyanna and Hayley Mills who plays Pollyanna describes everything as "gorgeous." Not just nice or okay, but gorgeous. I tried to say things were gorgeous with a British accent just like Hayley Mills and Carissa told me it wasn't working, but I still like the word.

I know, sometimes we get carried away and we use words like awesome when something isn't that big of a deal, but there are times when maybe a more superlative word could just make somebody's day.

Wouldn't it be great if all of our words fit this description. "Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones." (Proverbs 16:24). I'm going to try it.