Try It Tuesday!!

Growing up, I remember my grandmother saying, "If you can't say something good about someone, don't say anything at all."

When she would say that, I would get so frustrated at her!! Of course, when she would say that, I was usually angry with someone or I'd just heard a juicy bit of gossip that I felt I needed to share with others.

Over the years, my mom also said those same words to me and I've passed them on down to my children as well.

In moments of frustration or anger, it is so easy to let our mouths get in gear before our brain has had a chance to process anything.

My grandmother only lived a very short time. She was 54 when she moved to Heaven, but I can honestly never remember her saying an ill word about anybody.

Someone would hurt her feelings to the point of tears and she still wouldn't retaliate.

I remember even telling her, "Mommaw, you shouldn't let them get away with that!!" I was all fired up ready to rip apart the person who had offended my Mommaw but she would just look at me with those tear filled eyes and say, "Baby, they must just be having a bad day."

I couldn't understand how anybody could just let something like that roll off their back.

As a teenager it left my in a perpetual state of wonder.

As an adult, it's a trait I wish I had.

This brings me to today's Try It Tuesday!! challenge. For the next week, if it's not something good or edifying, if it doesn't encourage or lift someone up, then let's keep our mouth shut. Let's make a special effort to focus on the positive that people do, most especially with our children and DH's, and praise and encourage that action.

For me, I do encourage, but I'm so quick to point out that even though you swept the whole floor without being asked, you missed that "little bit right there". How frustrating that must be to hear!!!

" Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them." Ephesians 4:29, NLT

" Yes, my brother, please do me this favor for the Lord’s sake. Give me this encouragement in Christ." Philemon 1:20, NLT

These are only a couple of verses that speak to me about my speech and encouraging each other. The Bible program I have on my computer quickly pulled up many verses on edifying and encouraging each other with our speech. Take a few moments to look through your Bible and find the verses that will encourage you.

Begin today to only speak words of encouragement to others. Let's put into practice my grandmother's words.