Words As Sweet As Honey

The school children squealed with delight as they entered the gates of the local zoo on their highly anticipated field trip. It was a beautiful day with weather just right for the animals to show off their tricks… monkeys swinging through the air spurred on by applause and a cute baby hippo performing to receive food. So when the kids came across the foxes’ den, they were ready to see what these animals could do.

There were two foxes in the cage, but only one had been given a boiled egg. As you can imagine, the fox who had been left out was not too happy and began chasing the fox with the egg. She ran him up and over logs at a rapid pace until she cornered him and began aggressively biting him. The little boys in the group were shouting, “Whoa! Look at them fight!” as the little girls clutched their mamas and teachers. The foxes continued their quest for dominance while the group walked away a little disturbed.

This scenario is reminiscent of Paul’s warning in Galatians 5:15 (NIV):

If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

Ouch. Are we jealously biting our sisters or brothers with our words, trying to take away from them a blessing that they have received? Or are we just petty and careless with our words? Regardless of motivation, bite marks are inevitably being left on that person.

Conversely, the Bible says that “gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones” (Proverbs 16:24 NIV). When we use our words to lift others up, then we not only feed their soul, but we also act as a healing balm. Now that’s a trick worth cheering for!

O Lord, let our words be as sweet as honey. Let them be used to bring healing to our friends and family rather than leave nasty bite marks on them.

This is an excerpt from Made to Shine by April Rodgers – a devotional book released by DaySpring publishing. Learn more about this book, or shop other books & devotionals from DaySpring.