PLEASANT WORDS

"The wise in heart are called discerning, and pleasant words promote instruction...Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones." Proverbs 16:21,24


The passage today was from verses 20 - 30, but I think I can sum up what they were trying to say: Instruct people with pleasant words so that they may have wisdom and understanding.  I think it was focusing more on the pleasantness of the words as well.  How many times have I myself felt accused or angry because someone else was instructing me in a way which was hurtful to me? How many times have other people avoided instruction because of the poor word choices?

I have always believed that the words you say and the tone in which you say it in makes the biggest difference in how people respond.  There are a lot of people I know who don't realise how negative or dissuasive they actually sound, despite their good intentions.  I guess today's passage doesn't focus so much on what God has done for us, but what we can do for other people to show God's love.  For myself, I think I am getting better at changing my tone in order to match what I want to say, but only because I have realised that what I say should be spoken with love.