Breathe Grace

Ladies – don’t forget the Women’s Meeting this Saturday, March 29 at 9:00 a.m.

It happened before a prayer meeting – of all places. As I brought a concern that was on my heart, the discussion turned and the next thing I knew, I had unintentionally led the group into a gossip and complaining session. By the grace of God, we were able to stop ourselves and turn to prayer. Why are women so susceptible to gossip and complaining? How can we gain victory in this area?

That particular instance was a sobering one for me… how easy it is to allow ourselves to drift into unwholesome talk. It is usually not intentional. Often times it tends to be subtle. But at other times we know exactly what we are doing and with whom we can get away with complaining and gossiping.

The bottom line is that the Bible says in Ephesians 4:29 “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.” This is a command from Scripture, that gets my attention. It helps me see that if I gossiping and complaining I am not concerned about the needs of others. And if I am concerned about building others up I won’t be seeking opportunities to vocalize my complaints or participate in gossip.

After the above incident, I began to cry out to God to help me in this area. I looked up scripture verses on gossip and even found an excellent message by Ken Sande called Breathe Grace. In it he said, “Our words are life giving words – either killing – or life giving. We should think of breathing grace. As God breathes life into us, we can breathe life into others with encouragement, hope, and loving correction.” With God’s help I am making a conscious decision to guard my heart and mouth from words that are not edifying or God glorifying. Instead, I want every word I speak to be a breath of grace.

I know that this is going to be a difficult battle to fight, but God promises blessings from obedience. And, for accountability sake, I have asked my husband and friends to make me aware of any words that I speak that would not be pleasing in His sight. I don’t want to make friends with this sin but to labor, struggling with all his energy with so powerfully works in me to overcome it (Col. 1:29).

As the women of Covenant Fellowship Church, may we be known as women who breathe grace to others through our words.

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer (Psalms 19:14).