Reading… and Thinking

But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

— Colossians 3:8-9, 3:16-17, 4:5-6 (ESV)

A major portion of Paul’s letter to the Colossians is about behavior. What we do, and what we say. I don’t have any idea how many times I’ve read Colossians 3, but every time I do it’s powerful.

There’s some of the “what we do” part in the verses quoted, but primarily the focus of these particular verses is on “what we say”. What we do with our mouth is important to Jesus. (I recommend a thorough study of what Jesus said about what we say—you’ll probably be surprised at how much emphasis he put on it.) And it’s not just about the words themselves; it’s also the manner in which they are delivered.

These verses are crystal clear. Nothing malicious (intended to hurt) should come out of our mouth. No lies. Nothing foul. Instead, being filled with the word of Christ, what should come out is teaching (which will sometimes include admonishment—letting someone know they’re on the wrong track.) Spiritual songs should come out of our mouths, and thanksgiving. The bottom line is in chapter 4: “Let your speech always be gracious.”

Our culture does not encourage gracious speech. But you know, even in our culture, I’ve found that it’s really, really appreciated. It’s not a bad thing to be known as someone who will never speak ill of another, who will never lie, who will never make a remark intended to cut or belittle. Someone from whom the words of God can be heard, and whose overall speech and conduct makes it perfectly natural for that to happen.