A Commitment to Positive Speech and Action will Bring Healing to our Relationships

        “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver” (Proverbs 25:11). Helpful, encouraging words bring inner joy, strength, and hope to those who hear. Those kinds of words are a testimony to God, a tribute to His work in the lives of His children. We also need to cooperate with God in His work of transforming us into the image of Christ through our actions. What you do when you are certain you will not get caught reveals your integrity. What television program will you watch when no one is around? What magazine will you read if you know no one will know? Do you always tell the truth? Are you honest in all your dealings? How you handle all these and other issues in life determines your level of personal integrity.

Offer praise to the Lord who wants you to be pure as He is pure: “O LORD, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all. The earth is full of Your possessions… I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. May my meditation be sweet to Him; I will be glad in the LORD” (Psalm 104:24, 33-34).

Pray this confession to the Lord to keep your life free from sin and in fellowship with Him: “O Lord, I am too ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God; for my iniquities have risen higher than my head, and my guilt has grown up to the heavens (personalized from Ezra 9:6).

Confess any sins that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind. As you agree with God’s will, voice will affirmation of His Word: “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word… It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes… I know, O LORD, that Your judgements are right, and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me (Psalm 119:67, 71, 75).

As you make your requests know to the Lord, include:

• Greater love for the lost,
• Integrity in your daily life,
• The work of missions in Africa.

Offer this closing prayer to the Lord: “May we with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (personalized from Romans 15:6).

“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver” (Proverbs 25:11). “With God nothing will be impossible” (Luke 1:37).