"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me." - Galatians 2:20

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Friday, July 19, 2013

SPEAKING TO YOURSELF LIKE A FRIEND

I have some great friends who will be ministering to you over the next several weeks as I take some blogging time off to enjoy the summer with my family.


Cathy Baker has become a delightful online friend to me.  She's also an encourager who loves others.  She is an experienced Bible teacher who’s led community and church studies for twenty years. As an award-winning poet, she delights in observing God at work in the nuances of life and sharing those observations through writing, blogging, and hosting Scripture-themed tea parties.  Pop over to Cathy's blog and be blessed by her ministry.

Would you talk to your friends the way you talk to yourself?

When Tracy, my Weight Watchers leader, posed this question to our group, an arrow doused in truth punctured the bullseye encircling my heart.

Truth is, if I spoke to my friends the way I “speak” to myself at times, I’d be a very lonely woman.

I can’t imagine telling someone I care about that they’re overweight, lacking in talent, or less of a person because a degree isn’t packed away in their attic—yet I have no qualms with speaking those things into my own life.

Tracy’s question awakened a reality within me that often dozes off when tested: Words—spoken or unspoken—do but one of two things: build up or tear down.

“With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.” James 3:9,10

When we tear ourselves down, speak lies into our being, God’s greatest desires for us can be sabotaged, and what's worse, we insult the One who made us in His likeness.

Sisters, this should not be.

“Friends, let’s make a promise today not only to cultivate the inner beauty God desires to see in us, but also to search for the beauty in each other. After all, we’re family, and families stick together.” - Vonda Skelton, Seeing Through The Lies







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