Our rotten words fail to edify others and grieve God’s Spirit.
— Christian counselor Robert D. Jones
Nothing says college football like marching bands. These ensembles of mobile musicians have been a staple of autumn Saturdays on college campuses for more than a century. Today, some of the best bands consist of three-hundred-plus musicians and feature a wide variety of creative performances during halftime shows, ranging from the military precision of Texas A&M’s massive Corps of Cadets to Ohio State’s Michael Jackson “moonwalk” routine during a game in October 2013. But imagine if all those gridiron musicians exchanged their drums, tubas, and trumpets and carried only cymbals. The result would be nothing more than a loud, irritating noise. The apostle Paul had something similar in mind when he wrote 1 Corinthians 13:1: “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.”
To raise kingdom kids, we must saturate our children with loving words, regardless of the moment. Our speech should serve as a conduit of God’s love for our kids. But
our words ring hollow unless they are backed up by genuine love. Talk is talk. When words are not reinforced by actions that reflect a heart of love, we begin to sound like a three-hundred-cymbal marching band. If we don’t give our children the time they crave or comfort in the areas they need comforting, our words will never produce sweet music in our homes.
Application
1. How would you describe the way you speak to your children?
2. When has your speech been nothing more than a “clanging cymbal” because it wasn’t backed up by loving actions?
3. What steps can you take today to fill your home with true love?
Prayer
God, please fill my heart and my words with love toward my children. Help them to feel that love through my actions. Amen.
An excerpt taken from Raising Kingdom Kids. Discover more at RaisingKingdomKids.org.