The Proverbs 31 woman is KIND.
v. 26 says
She opens her mouth in wisdom,
And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
How often do women get slammed for gossiping, backbiting, and talking too much? This verse is a hard one for us. Most of us have the “gift of gab.” James 3:2 says that the hardest part of the body to tame is the tongue, but once it has been tamed, the whole body will follow. The Proverbs 31 woman thinks before she speaks and she speaks kind words. Ephesians 4:29 says “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear.”
This is so important when we are raising our children. It is easy to get frustrated when a child asks you the same question over and over and over again. I told you that I was raised in a sarcastic home and making someone the butt of a joke comes very naturally to me. In my family of origin, I have the reputation for giving the best put-downs.
But, my husband has taught me not to do that to our children. He has had great insight in this area and we work hard to build self-esteem instead of tearing it down. I try never to say things like “that’s dumb” or even “you’re bad” to my children. There are so many edifying things I can say. If one of my children is just being pure silly, I just laugh and say, “I love you.” What better response could there be?
No comments:
Post a Comment