Words

Remind them of these things and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness… 2 Tim 2:14-16

I love to give my two cents worth. I like for people to know my opinion, and when I think someone else is wrong, I want to correct them. I tend to make up for my lack of boldness by being opinionated.

But, being opinionated so frequently results in my being ashamed. Maybe not ashamed of my opinion, but ashamed of my presentation. I’m more concerned about getting my opinion out there than about “accurately handling the word of truth.”

There is a strong temptation for me to be a wrangler of words. To hash things out with people. On the one hand, it’s not bad for me to try to be persuasive. On the other hand, however, it is crucial that I am very attentive to the subject matter of my persuasive arguments. Am I presenting the Word of God for the edification of others? Or am I presenting Ann’s opinion because I want to make sure everyone knows what I think – and convince them to agree?

I am challenged to be purposeful in all of my words, whether spoken or written. That’s not to say I can only open my mouth or work my keyboard to specifically discuss the Bible. But, I can share life in general and still do it in a way that edifies others and keeps me from being ashamed. Will I still stick my foot in my mouth? Undoubtedly. Will I still have moments of shame over my words? Inevitably. But, I pray those moments will decrease steadily that my glorification of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may increase continually.