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Jun 28, 2022 18:00pm

Faith TALK: Drawing Lines with our Language

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(The following is a family devotional guide with suggested questions and scriptures.)

T-Talk About It Topic

What would you consider to be good ways to use your words?

Just some ideas to get your discussion started:

to encourage
to compliment
to teach
to love
to make others smile or laugh

What would you consider to be bad ways to use your words?

Just some ideas to get your discussion started:

to be mean or bully others
to be rude to others*to be negative
to make others sad

Proverbs 18:21 says our words can bring life or death to others, so our words are pretty important. What do your words show about you?

A-Anchor To The Bible

Read Matthew 12: 33-37

Point: Believers are the good trees that produce good fruit. The “fruit” is living out our faith through our words and actions. Our words and our actions reflect our hearts. If we profess to be believers, our words and actions will show it.

Point: Our words (our “fruit”) will reveal who we really are:

as believers (good trees in Matthew 12: 33-37)
as lukewarm (indifferent; Rev. 3: 15-18)
as unbelievers (bad trees in Matthew 12: 33-37)
as hypocrites (bad fruit in Matthew 12: 33-37)

If your classmates didn’t know much about you, could they tell you love Jesus through the way you talk and act?

Mama, take a piece of paper and answer these questions:

What language would you like for your family to use?
What language do you want your family to be cautious about?
What language is unacceptable for your family to use?

Next, see how your standards match up to God’s Standards for our language (read Proverbs 10:19, James 1:26, Ephesians 4:29, Colossians 4:6, Proverbs 15:1 and 2 Timothy 2:23 to see what God’s Word says about our language).

Lastly, draw the Line. This means, Mama, you take your standards and God’s standards and write out your boundary line(s) for this area. In other words, this is the rule.

L-Learn God’s Word

This week, we are going to work on staying within Mom’s and God’s boundaries. Because that may be a struggle, especially when you get upset or angry, we are going to work on memorizing this verse:

Lord, help me control my tongue. Help me be careful about what I say. -Psalm 141:3 (ICB)

Anytime you feel tempted to cross the boundary line, I want you to say this verse—use it like a prayer! Before any language comes out of your mouth that could cause you to cross the line, take a holy pause, say this verse, and take a deep breath. This gives you a chance to think more about your potential words and time for the Holy Spirit to help you as well.

When we take God’s word and make it a prayer, that is powerful! Let’s be quick to use this all week long—whether you are at school, on the bus, or at home.

K-Keep Each Other Accountable

This is the most valuable step of any Faith TALK! It’s focused on keeping everyone accountable with their language in this week’s Faith TALK, as well as the memory verse. Here are a few ideas to keep everyone’s language in check:

Encourage your people to take Holy Pauses when they get upset or angry and pray their memory verse during this pause. Even better, teach them how to take several deep breaths or step away from the action in order to control their words.
Listen carefully to the words they use this week—guide them where they struggle. Have them confess crossing the line(s) during prayers. Pray as a family for them to face this area in Jesus’ strength (nighttime prayers would be a perfect time!).
Watch your words, too, Mama! More is caught than taught at times, so be authentic. Confess when you have crossed the line. Tell them where you are struggling. Ask them to pray for you as well. Authenticity is powerful!
Pray Psalm 141:3 every night with your kiddos!
Write the memory verse on a chalkboard and display it by the door. Have them say the verse each morning and initial they did so.