The Right Word

THE RIGHT WORD

 

“…speaking the truth in love.” - Ephesians 4:15

 

When God speaks he always has the right word. Sometimes his

words are difficult to understand. Other times they are incredibly

simple but particularly profound. For example: “Love one another,”

“God is love,” “I am the bread of life,” “I am the vine, you are the

branches,” “I am the door,” “Jesus wept,” and “Let not your heart

be troubled.” His first word in the Bible is about as straightforward

as anyone could make it. It simply says, “In the beginning God.”

His last word as the Bible closes is just as simple and just as profound:

“I am coming soon!”

 

Mark Twain said, “The difference between the right word and

the almost right word is the difference between lightning and

the lightning bug.”

 

When English poet Keats was writing a poem he asked his friend

Leigh Hunt what he thought of the line, “A beautiful thing is an

unending joy.”

 

“Good, but not quite perfect,” said Hunt.

 

“How about this?’ said Keats, “A thing of beauty is an unending joy.”

 

Finally Keats put it this way, “A thing of beauty is a joy forever.”

 

“That,” said his friend, “will live as long as the English language

is spoken.”

 

May God help us to always speak the right word. It doesn’t have

to be eloquent but it needs to be straightforward, genuine, and

spoken in truth from the heart! God put it just right: “Speak the

truth in love.”

 

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to speak the

truth in love. Always. Even when I’m ticked off! Gratefully,

in Jesus’ name. Amen.”