Words – Still Learning

Conversations at Work

Last week I read an article on the BBC website where the Chartered Management Institute head said that chat about football or cricket in the workplace should be curtailed. It was felt that conversations at work on these subjects led to women feeling left out.

Naturally this got a lot of reaction, including a number of female sports fans who thought it was a terrible idea. One female manager feared that if sports chatter was banned then it could also lead to talking about Love Island, EastEnders and Game of Thrones being banned too!

Personally speaking, over the years I have found sport to be a subject that can build bridges between people at work and develop friendships. It can be an interest that people from very differing backgrounds have in common. At one level you may feel you cannot relate to the people with whom you work. However, if you both like football, it provides an area where you can interact with each other.

It’s easy to write this article off as another example of political correctness going overboard. Although, for the Christian in the workplace, this does raise the important issue of how we must consider carefully our words at work. We should think about our speech and guard what we say to others. With that in mind, I am conscious that we need to ask God’s help in the following areas:

Not gossiping
There are plenty of verses in the Bible that warn against gossiping;

“A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends.” (Proverbs 16:28)

“A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy person keeps a secret.” (Proverbs 11:13)

Gossiping is not an attractive trait. As Christians we should not be known as one of the office gossips. As gossiping frequently involves the criticism of others it should have no place in the life of a Christian.

Think before we speak
The trouble with opening your mouth and saying something is that you cannot unsay your words. The number of times I wish I could unsay something is sadly very large! The words come out and the damage is done. I expect most of us are familiar with the verse below:

“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,” (James 1:19).

How much different our lives might be if we actually put that verse into practice?

Speaking wholesome words
It can be difficult for the Christian in the workplace to set up an example of wholesome talk if our work environment is one where crudity abounds. However, as Christians we are called to be an example in this area:

“Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” (Colossians 4:6)

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” (Ephesians 4:29)

Wouldn’t be good if every time we spoke people benefited from our words?

Closing Prayer
It’s easy to feel a failure when we consider those times when we have dishonoured God at work with our speech. However such is God’s amazing grace that He gives us new opportunities to serve Him each day. The following prayer is one that would be good to pray for ourselves each day before we set out for work:

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14)

The Words of the Wise bring Healing

One of the themes running throughout the book of Proverbs is the importance of the words that we speak. Whilst reading Proverbs chapter 12 last Sunday I came across the following verse:

“Some people making cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring healing.” (Proverbs 12:18 – NLT)

What a wonderful verse! Just think that the words we speak to others can bring healing. We can be a vessel through which God brings healing to others. This is indeed good news.

However, this verse has two parts to it and I expect many of us have been guilty of the first part of it, making cutting remarks. The part of the verse is even more hard hitting in the NIV:

“Reckless words pierce like a sword”

Our words are very powerful. They can bring both damage and healing to others. It’s so important to remember this before we open our mouths. In Proverbs 13v3 we are told:

“Those who control their tongue will have a long life; opening your mouth can ruin everything.”

There have been so many times in my life when I have opened my mouth and said something that has ruined situations. Sadly more times than I would care to remember. Once the words leave my mouth I cannot bring them back. It’s not possible to delete or recall them. They have been said and heard by others. One can apologise but unfortunately the damage may already have been done.

However, it does not have to be like that. Instead of using words that can ruin everything we can use words that bring healing to others. What a privilege and honour it is to say something that brings healing to others. Who would not want to be the person who can bring healing to others though our words?

We need to learn to think before we speak. The apostle James tells us:

“My dear brothers, take note of this. Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.”

Just think of how much of a blessing we might be to others if we actually did this!

Developing Good Habits

One of the towns I like to visit has a one-way traffic system running through the centre of it. However for some reason whenever I cross the road in this town I always look both to the left and right before walking across the road.

I have often wondered why I look both ways in this situation because the cars can only come from one direction! After thinking about this I have come to the conclusion that I do this out of habit. I was taught from a young age to look both ways before crossing the road so that is what I do, even in a one-way street.

This got me thinking on the importance of developing good habits in our lives. When we develop good habits we find that they become second nature to us and we do them naturally. They become part of us.

So how long does it take to develop a habit? If you type that question into Google there are a number of web pages you can find that suggests that 21 days is the answer to that question. However I’m not sure there is an exact science to this. There are obviously some habits that take longer to develop than others. Also it goes without saying that there are some habits that take considerable more than 21 days to break.

There are many good habits that we should seek to develop as a Christian. The following three I believe are worth pursuing:

Regular Bible reading and Prayer

One of the good habits I was taught as a young Christian was the importance of setting aside some time each day to read my bible and prayer.

For a new Christian it can be useful to start off by either reading through one of the gospels or alternatively using bible reading notes.

You might ask “when is it best to read the bible and pray?” When I was younger I tended to do my daily bible readings and prayers in the evening as that best fitted in with my daily schedule. However as I got older I changed that to the morning as I found that worked best for me. Whether you do this in the morning or evening does not really matter though. The important thing is to find time each day to read your bible and pray.

Controlling our tongues

Perhaps the most challenging thing in life is controlling our tongues. There are plenty of bible verses that tell us the importance of this. The book of James has some very strong warnings about our tongues and how we should not criticise others.

I expect we all have many times deeply regretted saying something to someone that has caused unnecessary upset. So much damage can be done by careless words.

One of the best habits that we can develop is to decide that we will not criticise others and to think before we speak.

Forgive as we have been forgiven

As a Christian it is a wonderful thing to know that Jesus has forgiven me. He has totally forgiven me.

Therefore just as we have been forgiven we should also be willing to forgive others who have wronged us. If we are being honest most of us would admit that we find this difficult at times.

However we need to remember that forgiving others is extremely important. We pray in the Lord’s Prayer “forgive us our sin as we forgive those that sin against us.” If we don’t forgive others then we run the potential risk of not having our sins forgiven.

So we really need to develop the habit of forgiving others. It’s an important habit to develop.