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Listen while you read: "My Faith Looks Up To Thee"1
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Colossians 4:6 – Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone. (NLT)
Bonnie and Kayley were at it again. What they were talking about I don't know, but I could hear them plainly, and it was plainly getting on my nerves. My two collies have their own language. All collies, it seems are talkers. When I speak on the phone with a friend of mine, I often hear her collie, Mack, muttering away in the background, letting her know how annoyed he is that she is not paying attention to him. Collie voices have numerous pitches and inflections, rising from soft to loud and low to high, and when they are happy, they are especially vocal and demonstrative. Many a time, I have had to stop what I am doing to address one of their especially rowdy conversations with these words: "Enough, be quiet now!
I wonder whether God ever feels the same way in regard to our conversations. I'm sure that He often has, when it comes to mine. The ability to speak is an incredible gift. Without it, we would have great difficulty successfully manoeuvring within our world. My youngest grandchild was born with a delayed speech issue which made understanding her for the first five years of her life a real challenge. It was also frustrating for her as she knew what she wanted but could not express it in a way that others understood. Yes, speech is important. Even more important, however, is the way in which we conduct our conversations, a point which the apostle Paul revealed in today's Scripture verse.
According to vocabulary.com, "gracious", as an adjective, means to be characterized by kindness and warm courtesy; showing a tender, considerate, and helpful nature. Synonyms include friendly, elegant, refined, and merciful. The word "attractive" is defined as very pleasing in appearance or sound.
In light of these definitions, how do I measure up? How do you measure up when it comes to your daily conversations with others?
May we each take time today to allow the Holy Spirit to examine us in this regard. Then, let us commit to being humble and willing to listen to His guidance as He nudges us throughout the day in regard to any inappropriate speech which seeks to leap from our lips amidst frustration, annoyance, anger, pain, impatience, and the like. By so doing, we can be assured that our conversations will not only be much more pleasing to those around us, but also to our heavenly Father Who knows completely, even before we do, every word that is upon our tongue. "Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord." (Psalm 139:4 NIV)
Prayer: Lord God, may we be humble and quiet before You this day, that we might hear and respond to Your Spirit within, and that our conversations might be pleasing to You. In Christ's name, we pray. Amen.
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About the author:
Lynne Phipps <lynnephippsatlin@gmail.com>
Tawatinaw, Alberta, Canada
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A tough job, indeed.
Thanks, Lynne. Collies are so special, and your application of that story certainly is also.
Good morning, Lynne. I could almost hear you dogs in the background. Another great read. Thanks for sharing with all of us. Have a Blessed weekend.
Thank you, Lynne, for today’s devotion. It was quite timely for me and caused me to reflect on my own recent conversations with a couple of family members where there is currently some friction.
Lynne – This reminded me of how our dairy cows used to gather in family groupings in pasture or in the yard. What could they have to discuss?
One reason I prefer small numbers for conversation – you can dwell on important topics like talking about our Lord.
Many thanks Lynne for another of your very special devotionals. You always do a great analogy by interweaving actions of your pets with the same actions or behaviour we might do in our daily lives. Truly, words we say have a great effect on our relationship with others and we need be very attentive to what words we let come out of our mouths. Our conversations with our Lord are very important too and He is very deserving of our words of praise and thankfulness. Blessings for these writings you deliver.
Thank you, Lynne, for sharing this slightly humorous, but far more encouraging devotional with us today. To God be the glory! BTW, that canine need to vocalize also flourishes in my Terrier mix.
She annoyingly warns off cats, squirrels, rabbits, postal and delivery persons, and anyone else who happens to pass by our place. Thankfully exceptions exist. My neighbor and her hound dog mix are welcome as is my son and daughters. But all others better beware. Thanks again and many Blessings.
This is very interesting right now as one of my friends has Parkinson’s and it has affected his speech so much that we can no longer understand him. He was a brilliant mechanical engineer who always had so many good ideas which were always appreciated by the group of guys who get together to fix things at church each Wednesday. Now he rarely comes out and when I go to visit, I can only understand the odd word. He is terribly frustrated at not being able to express himself and we are frustrated at not being able to understand him.
You were speaking to the choir today, Lynne. The older I get the less patient I seem to be with those around me! We had a good lesson in appreciation this week as his best man friend ended up in the hospital with broken ribs, etc. His wife spent a night with us prior to the children taking over. She has dementia, and I had no idea how severe it was. Certainly I will now be more patient with some of her remarks and actions.
God has to be immensely patient!!!
Thanks for another well-written devotional.
Good morning, Lynne,
I have never focused on Colossians 4:6 before or knew that collies had conversations. I do know that when I lower my voice and stay calm, it affects how the other person hears what I am saying and responds. Do I do this all the time? I am sorry that I don’t. A very important message in today’s world. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the importance of how we converse and not just on what we want to get across.
Wouldn’t it be interesting if we could know what Bonnie and Kayley are saying? Do you think it is because they are girls that they have so much to say?
May you have a gracious and attractive day. Blessings.
The very thing I pray about very often. I (we ?) have many little vocal ways of expressing our emotions. There’s the little cluck of the tongue to indicate not only the frustration but also a slight criticism, or blame. How amazing is that! One little tongued tsk sound, not even a vocalization, and I’ve hurt someone else, possibly more deeply than I realize. A little somewhat louder exhalation indicates the same frustration and criticism. On the other hand we have another set of sounds that indicate joy or approval – actually, now that I think about it, approval or joy or appreciation are usually expressed through facial expressions. How interesting. I love your observations. God bless.
May we smile more than we huff!!
Hello Lynne and thank you for this good reminder of how our words can reveal our heart, for better and for worse. I would add to this my need to watch carefully the conversations in my mind: they, too, are very revealing of where I am at in times of stress? On whose strength do I lean?
Blessings on your day, collies and all!
As well as a good message, I learned about collies. Thanks for writing.
We’ve had our first frost. Trees are heavy with seeds. Old timers would forecast a hard winter.