Daily devotion – Harsh words reveal a heart of the flesh.
Galatians 5:13 – “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”
In my nearly 24 years of service with the Western Australian Police Force, there was only one occasion where a person refused my offer of prayer. His son, a police officer, had tragically died in a home accident. The father, who had once been a pastor, told me that his greatest hurt had come from within a church.
Sadly, I have seen similar pain surface in other ways. Often, people will contact us at the church asking about service times, what we believe, or seeking certain assistance. Yet, when our response is not what they want, the tone suddenly changes, and the conversation can become rude or abrupt. This happens far too often.
It seems that some people believe that having “religious faith” of some kind gives them license to ignore the basics of kindness and good manners. But such behaviour reveals a life not governed by the Holy Spirit and lacking the fruit of the Spirit:
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”
(Galatians 5:22–23)
The one thing people expect when speaking to a follower of Christ is that they will encounter Christlikeness—in words, in tone, and in manner. Paul warns the Galatian believers that Christian liberty is not permission to be unkind. Some of them were “biting and devouring one another,” behaving like wild animals, and Paul warns them they were in danger of destroying each other (Galatians 5:14–15).
The Holy Spirit does not work in a vacuum. He uses the Word of God, prayer, worship, and the fellowship of believers to shape us into Christ’s likeness. When we yield daily to His work, we experience true liberty, and instead of tearing others down, we help build up the church.
Good manners, politeness, kindness, and thankfulness all reveal a heart touched by God.
So let us place a guard over our lips and pray that every word we speak would carry the blessing of our Lord.