THINK

“Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification”

Romans 15:2




Try to imagine (and trust me its going to take a lot of imagination here) a political debate where the two candidates told you all the accomplishments of their opponent instead of trying to give you all the dirt. It’s one thing to talk about accomplishments and another to seek to drag another person down. We never truly come out on top by attacking other people personally. As a matter of fact it usually has the opposite effect. The majority of people will come to the defense of a person who they believe is being attacked even if the person being attacked is wrong. The reason being is God hard wired each us to care for others, to protect and defend.

Love, the Bible teaches us is believing the best of others and not the worst. It’s seeing people and situations as they could be and not just as they are. This is where faith comes in. The wealthiest people in the world relationally speaking are those who don’t dig up dirt on others but who are willing to move a lot of dirt in search of gold. Most of us are attracted to positive people, people who tend to see the good in others. They are refreshing to us and not a drain on our spirit. It was Benjamin Franklin who once said, “Speak ill of no man, but speak all the good you know of everybody."

Being an election about a week away politicians will confess its time to “get down and dirty” and “get in the mud” during the last few days of an election in hopes of swaying people away from their opponent. Even politicians know they have to time their dirty politics and hold it to a minimum because they know they run the risk of offending undecided voters. As followers of Christ we can agree there is no place for running people down. Jesus said it best in Mark 8:36, “what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul, and what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” Winning an election isn’t worth it if it costs you your soul to do so. The apostle Paul instructs us how we should approach how we talk about others today when he writes in Ephesians 4:29, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.”

There we have it, grace, amazing grace, how sweet the sound! Grace is the filter the Lord would have all our words pass through today. Here’s a little acrostic that will help us to remember, THINK before we speak,

T- Is it True.
H- Is it Helpful
I- Is it Inspiring
N- Is it Necessary
K- Is it Kind


“So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath”

James 1:19

I LOVE YOU!

Michael Osthimer

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