Proverbs 16:24

Kind words are like honey – sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.

Do you have a sweet tooth? I sure do. I love all kinds of candy and desserts like Twizzlers, Hot Tamales, Cow Tails, fruit pies, cheesecake, mint chocolate chip frozen custard…YUM! It all tastes wonderful, of course, but it most definitely is not good for my body…or my teeth…or my health in general. What a bummer.

Kind words, on the other hand, are both sweet AND healthy! Do you know anyone who speaks kind words to you? They encourage you…build you up…care for you…watch out for you. They listen intently and then speak lovingly. You know without a doubt that they are in your corner. They are for you rather than against you. And even when they have to confront you, they do it in a way that lifts you up rather than tearing you down. I hope you have at least one person in your life like that, but the bigger question we need to ask is: Does anyone see us this way?

It’s not always easy, of course. Lots of people are rude and uncaring and, in our sin, the last thing we want to do is be kind to someone who has been mean to us…or dismissive…or condescending. But setting those folks aside, how often are we speaking kindly to all the other people God has placed in our lives? How about your spouse? Children? Friends? Co-workers? Neighbors? I like how the Proverbs 31 devotional wraps this up:

“All the humans you encounter throughout the course of the day are ‘on-purpose’ people. God placed them into your life for a reason. These souls — whether they are the easy-to-love variety or the scratchy sandpaper kind — can be used by God to mold, reshape and sometimes stretch our souls as He perpetually crafts us into creations that look more and more like his Son — especially in the way we speak.”

Amen to that!