There are so many ways we can honor God. This article focuses in on honoring God by choosing our words carefully and deliberately. Look at these scriptures:

Isaiah58:13-14 NIV

13 If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,

14 then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob ." The mouth of the LORD has spoken.

Matthew 12:36, 37 KJV

36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

We see from these two scriptures that we honor God by wisely choosing the words we speak. Optimally, we should pray before we speak and ask God to give us the words to speak. The Psalm says, open your mouth and I'll fill it. We will have to answer for every word that doesn't bring life. Jesus says we will either be justified or condemned by the words we speak.

I'd like to challenge you to start doing more word studies on the various words in the scripture to get to the heart of the meaning of words. For example, the word good in Romans 8:28 is (agathos), which in the Greek means to work together for the moral good. So, He works all things together in our life so we can become morally good and upright . It also denotes p erfecting, making excellent, honorable, and reconciled to God . One more to spur you on . . . Go to Genesis 1 and look up the word good there as well. I did, and in essence, it conveys producing and promoting life. The Hebrew word (tov) in this context signifies whatever enhances, promotes, produces, or is conducive for life .

Here is this month's article, and I pray it joyfully encourages you to get clear about words, their meanings, and your motives for using them in the future.

How Do You Use Honey?

Do you call your friends, associates, and brothers and sisters in Christ “honey”?

If you answered yes, did you know that using the word “honey” in this way suggests you are trying to win their favor through flattery, deception, and influence of position? Using “honey” in this way can stem from a spirit of pride, ego, and self-exaltation.

Let us look at how the word “honey” is used in the Bible. It is used to symbolically speak of abundance (Exodus 3:8, 13:5, 33:3), to describe our delight in God's word (Psalm 19:10, 119:103), and to speak of the rightness of God's word towards us (Ezekiel 3:3).

Song of Solomon 2:15 tells us it is the little foxes that spoil the vine. In order to please God in all of our ways, we must begin to look at the little things, little habits, and personal mannerisms in our lives as He looks at them. Once we begin to look at how God uses words, then we are challenged to line ourselves up with His truth concerning words not our own truth. Another consideration for the use of this word is, it may push others away from you not closer to you, which is probably not what you intended when you choose to use it.

One final note concerning “honey.” When speaking to your spouse, calling him/her “honey” in lieu of sweetheart is gorgeous. At the same time, you want to watch the spirit of manipulation and cajoling. For example, if your husband is reluctant to go somewhere or do something, and you say, “Oh you should do this or that because you are REALLY great at it honey.” You could be operating in manipulation by using flattery and tagging the word “honey” on to it to twist, coerce, or change someone's will. This is just a light, playful example to illustrate the point, but you should definitely check in with the Holy Spirit to reveal your motives.

To slowly decrease this little habit, ask the Holy Spirit to remind you of the TRUE meaning of this word and your motives prior to your conversations.

Loving you enough to challenge you,

Karen M. Pina
GOD's Coach

(c) 2008 Gifts Ordained by Direction/Karen M. Pina

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BIO

Karen M. Pina is a leadership coach and the CEO of Gifts Ordained by Direction www.godscoach.com , a coaching practice that addresses everyday leadership issues. Pick up a copy of Karen's book “ Leadership FITness ” and get FIT physically, financially, and spiritually.

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