One of our friends has an interesting ‘home rule.’ He said: “In this home all are expected to speak only Fruit of Spirit words. (Galatians 5:22,23) This rule could be applied for our lives too.
1) Loving words: Christian life is life of love. God loves us, we love God. Then the result is we must love our neighbor as ourselves. If so, communication should be loving. In fact, loving words provide encouragement, affirmation, and dignity to a person. There must be no hate or divisive words in our vocabulary.
2) Joyful words: Gloomy moods could be lifted up by joyful words and songs. Christian life is joyful life. Paul had the audacity to write from Roman Prison: “Rejoice in the Lord always.” (Philippians 4:4)
3) Peaceful words: Lord Jesus promised peace that the world cannot give or take away. (John 14:27) Words that instigate fight should be deleted even from our brain memory.
4) Patient words: Learning to accept that others are not perfect, reduces our expectation. Then we are patient with others. Patient people are those with understanding. (Proverbs 14:29) Anger resides in the bosom of a fool. (Ecclesiastes 7:9)
5) Kind words: Lord Jesus was moved with compassion when he saw people in misery or sickness or like ‘sheep without shepherd.’ Kind words comes from a compassionate person. Paul exhorts believers to be kind with one another. (Ephesians 4:32)
6) Good words: We ought to do good to everyone. (Galatians 6:9) Filthy words, evil words, bad words, mocking words, humiliating words, innuendos and dirty words should not proceed from our mouth. (Colossians 3:8)
7) Faith words: Words of negativity, pessimism, hopelessness and despair should not proceed from our mouth. Words of faith and that exalts faithfulness of God should be our active vocabulary.
8) Gentle words: A gentle or soft answer turns away wrath. (Proverbs 15:1)
9) Self-Control words: Words should be controlled as we ought to give account for every ‘idle’ word we speak. (Matthew 12:36)
Do I speak Fruit of Spirit words always?