Wiser and Happier: Devotions From Time of GraceSample

Talking and Listening Walt Disney knew that children wished animals could talk. And so he gave them a talking mouse, duck, and dog, plus an entire chatty menagerie. Even after seven decades of Disney, however, animals still don’t talk. People alone can do that. God talks. It was his marvelous decision to share that ability with his children. But with that ability comes serious responsibility. When your mother was comforting you about playground bullies, she encouraged you to shrug off mean words, since “names will never hurt me.” Nice try, Mom, but you know that’s not true. Words have enormous power. In fact, “The tongue has the power of life and death” (Proverbs 18:21). Words can crush the life and hope out of a person. Words can help a broken heart start beating again. Words are God’s chosen vehicle for sharing the good news of our Savior Jesus Christ. We could all stand a tongue overhaul in God’s shop. Listen first.