Welcome to “How to Talk Like Jesus!” This short series helps you communicate the truth in love with family, friends, and neighbors who might “make” you want to scream or run like Forrest Gump. Are you ready for the secret to godly communication? Let’s go.
Your Talk Exposes Your Heart
Did you know what you say and how you say it reveals a lot about you? And about what you think of God? Your communication exposes your heart.
For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. Matthew 12:34, NASB
As in water face reflects face, so a man’s heart reveals the man. Proverbs 27:19, NKJV
As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. Proverbs 23:7, NLT
Here’s a time I handled communication poorly. The family member: my dad’s wife.
She doesn’t like me very much. I’m not sure why. A while back, she stomped into a restaurant where my dad and I were enjoying a late lunch, and her words flew at me like daggers: “Why are you here with him? He should be home with the children. You just want his money.” I said, “The children are young adults. And I’m here to see my dad, not get money.” He tried to quiet her and I moseyed toward the hostess at the cash register.
Honestly, I just wanted to feel safe, not talk like Jesus. I withdrew. Thankfully my dad’s wife soon left. I felt sad, confused. My dad felt worse. His smile had become a grimace.
Your Talk Reveals Your Beliefs
Your heart is highly important to God. Think of your heart as the control center of your inner self. It reveals your beliefs and your motivations.
What you believe guides your thoughts and actions. God cares about your communication because he cares about you and your beliefs.
He desires your focus to be on Jesus, not on yourself. When your beliefs are “me-centered,” you’ll show them by what you say and what you do. A “me-centered” heart is prideful, selfish, lonely, angry, fearful, and sad, and such is your communication.
Did you know that the Bible says if a person can control their tongue, they’ll be able to control all their desires/passions/affections?
For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well. James 3:2, NASB
How to Talk Well
Dr. Stuart Scott, an author and a professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, shares six prerequisites to good communication. Here are the first two. In the next Wednesday Word, you’ll discover more.
To talk like Jesus, you must want to please God more that anything else. Ask God for help in desiring to please him more than you want to have your own way or to be right. Desire to know him as he reveals himself in Scripture.
For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. Galatians 1:10, ESV
To talk like Jesus, you must be humble. The opposite of humility is pride. When you choose to communicate humbly, your words and your nonverbal communication will demonstrate patience. If you’re humble you’ll be patient when you’ve been misunderstood. You’ll lovingly speak truthfully, and you’ll listen much more than you talk.
Make It Practical!
To help improve your communication, choose this week to do two things:
First, do not interrupt when someone else is speaking. Instead, listen.
Second, when you’re talking, pause once in a while, so the other person has a chance to speak.
Friends, are you interested in impoving communication with your spouse? Your family? A boss? I’d love to counsel hope to your heart and give you biblical solutions to the problem you’re facing. Send me a message and we can set up a complimentary 20-minute consultation by phone.
Usually when you hear “what if,” the next words turn dark. . .and worry creeps near.
You’ve felt the creeping “what if” worry, haven’t you?
“What if . . .my husband loses his job?”
“What if. . .a monster molests my precious child?”
“What if. . .someone learns my secret?”
(What if. . .everyone — someone — listened and cared and help you overcome fear?)
“What if” worry is, dare I say, sinful fear. Sin is an ugly choice. It’s choosing to be self-reliant, not God-dependent. Apart from God you can do nothing. Linked arm in arm with God, you’ll do amazing.
Fear Is an F-Word!
When you or I say “what if” this happens or “what if” that happens, we become hostage of “what if” worry, a tool of Satan to destroy your dreams and to keep you from becoming whole. Do you want freedom from fear? Do you want to embrace a better way to live?
Our Lord Jesus has come to bring us abundant life, the apostle John tell us. Jesus is the “who” who can blot out your “what if’s.” Biblically speaking, “what if” worry not jibe in a Christian women’s life. It’s like curse word; it just sounds nicer than the “f-word.”
You may have thought, “What if I stress to the max and curl up in my bed, afraid to take the next step, to make the next phone call,” “What if I fail?”
Here’s my two cents, and if you know VeggieTales, sing it full out:
God is bigger than the boogie man.
He’s bigger than Godzilla and the monsters of TV.
God is bigger than the boogie man and he’s watching out for you and me.
One more time.
From Fear to Faith
God is watching out for you and me. The truth is, even if you mess up, God never sees you as loser. In the Lord Jesus Christ, you are a winner. You are a beautiful warrior.
When God looks at you, he is not angry with you or absent or business doing something else. He is Immanuel, God with us. God with you. Do you know this? Do you believe this?
What can you do when the “What if” monster wants to swallow you whole?
1. Remember that God does not give you the spirit of fear.
For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. 2 Timothy 1:7
Satan and his demons do. Fear is their playground of quicksand. Don’t do there. And if you are there, sinking fast, call on the name of Jesus. Just cry “Help,” and he will help you. This is his promise to you.
2. Ask for God’s wisdom. He promises to give his wisdom to everyone who asks.
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. James 1:5
3. Seek out counsel. Turn to your husband if you’re married, godly friends, trust-worthy family members all can help you with your worry. Do not go it alone. Do not isolate yourself. Wolves attack the lamb who is apart from the flock. Stick with the flock. Or you can counsel in person or by Skype with a biblical counselor including me.
4. After praying and seeking wise counsel, be willing to make the changes God wants you to make. For example, you may determine to trust God daily, even moment by moment, as you face your “what if’s.” Persevere. Be patient. Nothing you do is wasted.
Ruth’s Amazing Faith
Consider Ruth in the Bible. She was a Moabite. Her countrymen worshiped false idols. When her husband died, she was left childless. A widow. Destitute. Sounds like failure, right?
God took her good plan of being a wife to an Israelite and turned it into a better plan. She determined to follow her mother-in-law Naomi back to Israel, determining to leave sin behind and follow the one true God. Not only did God bless her with another husband, a godly man, but also a son.
Ruth became the great grandmother of David.
Had she got stuck in “What if?” – like. what if bandits attack Naomi and I die on the way to Israel and I am raped and die? – should would have missed out on God’s better plan.
What about you? Are you stuck in “What if?”God has a better plan to you. Ask him. Trust him. He listens.
What better plan does God have for you? Would you like to know? Contact me. We’ll walk together and find the answers.
Your Talk Exposes Your Heart
