LUKE 4:22a – And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth.

THEME OF THE DAY. SPEAKING GRACIOUS WORDS. Before we move into today’s nugget that is based on the type and quality of Jesus’ speech found in today’s scripture, we need to qualify something about the speech of a Christian. No Christian should ever have a reputation of having a gossiping tongue, a slanderous mouth, an impulsive tongue full of unkind, angry, and hurtful words. I am not saying Christians may not struggle in some of these areas, but, if they are truly Christians, and growing in grace, they will overcome these areas – all of them. The Apostle Paul placed strong emphasis upon a controlled tongue and edifying speech making those characteristics of God’s people. He wrote, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear” (Ephesians 4:29). Sinful speech is unbecoming a Christian and draws us so far away from what we observe in today’s scripture. The people’s reaction to Jesus’ speech is to be their reaction to our speech – “All spoke well of Him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from His mouth.”

When it comes to having speech committed to building others up and full of grace, like those coming from our Lord Jesus, there are a couple of things we need to keep in mind. .

First, no matter who we are talking to, Christian or non-Christian, these individuals are image-bearers. They were created in the image of God. Yes, sin has marred the image, and outside of Christ, no one can have that image redeemed, but we still must converse with all people through their dignity as image-bearers of our Creator. And that means gracious speech. James reminds us of this truth – “It (the tongue) is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so (James 3:8b-10). The next time we are in a conversation, even a heated one, ask the Spirit of God to control our speech by reminding us the other person is an image-bearer of God.

Another thing to remember which will help us guard our tongues and send forth gracious speech is the warning from Jesus – “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak” (Matthew 12:36). Think about this truth . . the One who always spoke gracious words while He walked upon the earth is going to judge our words revealing whether they were gracious or not. Here is a good and strong motivator to control our speech; to depend upon the Spirit of God to make them gracious words, not cutting or hurting words; we are going to give an account for every word spoken!.

We are not surprised the crowds marveled over the gracious speech of our Lord. And may the individuals and crowds we speak into also hear the same type of gracious words; words of life, love, always pointing people to Him who always spoke words of grace.

PRAYER: “Father, help me to guard my tongue and allow me to speak like Your Son.”

QUOTE: “One of the truest measurements of our intimacy with the Lord Jesus will be the graciousness found in our speech.”