Speak Sweeter

The mosquito has a long mouth called a proboscis.  On the proboscis are sharp cutting tools called stylets.  The stylets purpose is to cut open the victims skin. Then she pushes in her long mouth and injects saliva into the wound to increase the blood flow and sucks the victims blood.  She leaves a small wound that starts to itch within two minutes which is an allergic reaction to the mosquito's saliva.
   Our mouths can be even more hurtful than the mosquitoes.  Our tongues can be very sharp and cut deep like a knife.  The effects can last a lot longer than a mosquito bite and they can hurt much more.

There's a beautiful story of 'Speaking Sweetly,' found in Luke 13:10-17. The Bible says Jesus is teaching in the synagogue one day when He saw a woman sitting in the audience. She had been crippled and bent over for the last 18 years, and was unable to stand up straight. The eyes of Jesus locked with hers and his heart was moved with compassion so He called her forward and reached out to touch her. When He does, the Bible says, she was instantly healed. She stands up straight and begins praising God.  What a wonderful moment.  Yet, in the middle of all the excitement and praise, the leader of the synagogue steps forward and blasts Jesus for healing on the Sabbath. When Jesus defends his actions, he references the woman he had just healed,  but this time when He speaks of that lady he doesn't call her "woman," this time Jesus calls her a "daughter of Abraham." He doesn't see her as an elderly, crippled, woman. He sees her as a child of the great patriarch of the Jewish people, Abraham.

I have this picture of her walking home that day...she is standing up straight, feels ten feet tall, and is seeing things she hasn't seen in years. Going through her thoughts, ringing like the sounds of a bell, are those life and value building words "daughter of Abraham." Those were sweet speaking, life-giving words, Jesus spoke of her. 

Verbal grenades and shrapnel have left multitudes of scars on a lot of people, haven't they? They became like mosquito bites and caused us to hurt. You could still be scratching that irritation even now, maybe, huh?!  

 Jesus lesson in that story is so appropriate for all of us today. He spoke life-giving words to that woman and when He did; when He spoke sweetly, those words brought healing.  Now go and do the same!