Communicating with Grace: Building Stronger Relationships

Devotional

Day 1: God as the Ultimate Communicator

God's communication throughout the Bible is intentional and relatable, serving as a model for us. His interactions with figures like Noah and Moses demonstrate the importance of clear and purposeful communication. By examining these biblical examples, we can learn how to communicate with intention and clarity in our own lives. God’s communication is not only about conveying information but also about building relationships and guiding His people with wisdom and love. As we strive to emulate His example, we should aim to make our communication intentional, filled with grace, and aimed at fostering understanding and connection. [02:42]

"For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity." (Proverbs 2:6-7, ESV)

Reflection: Think of a recent conversation where you struggled to communicate effectively. How can you apply the principles of intentional and clear communication in your next interaction?

Day 2: The Role of Colossians in Communication

The Book of Colossians teaches us how to communicate with God and others, emphasizing grace and wisdom in our speech. It highlights the need for a godly attitude in all interactions. By speaking with grace and wisdom, we can ensure that our words are seasoned with salt, uplifting and encouraging those around us. This approach to communication is not just about the words we choose but also about the attitude and heart behind them. By aligning our communication with the teachings of Colossians, we can foster healthier and more meaningful relationships. [12:02]

"Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person." (Colossians 4:6, ESV)

Reflection: Consider a relationship in your life that could benefit from more grace-filled communication. What specific steps can you take to ensure your words are seasoned with grace and wisdom in this relationship?

Day 3: The Power of Words

Words have the power to uplift or destroy. A word fitly spoken can bring life and healing, while careless words can lead to conflict and division. Guarding our hearts ensures our words reflect God’s love and wisdom. The Bible reminds us that our words are a reflection of what resides within our hearts. Therefore, it is crucial to be mindful of the words we speak and the impact they have on others. By choosing our words carefully and speaking with love and wisdom, we can build up those around us and strengthen our relationships. [19:41]

"Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits." (Proverbs 18:21, ESV)

Reflection: Reflect on a time when your words either built someone up or tore them down. How can you be more intentional about using your words to bring life and healing to those around you?

Day 4: Effective Communication in Relationships

Effective communication involves listening and understanding, not just speaking. It is essential for building and maintaining healthy relationships, whether in marriage, family, or community. Listening is a crucial component of communication, requiring intentionality and focus. By truly listening to others, we can foster intimacy and close gaps that the enemy might exploit. This approach to communication not only strengthens our personal relationships but also enhances our ability to share the gospel and be a godly example to those around us. [25:22]

"Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God." (James 1:19-20, ESV)

Reflection: Identify a relationship where you need to improve your listening skills. What practical steps can you take to become a better listener and foster deeper understanding in this relationship?

Day 5: The Importance of Listening

Listening is a crucial component of communication. It requires intentionality and focus, allowing us to truly understand and connect with others. This fosters intimacy and closes gaps that the enemy might exploit. By prioritizing listening in our communication, we can create an environment where others feel heard and valued. This not only strengthens our relationships but also reflects the love and wisdom of God in our interactions. As we strive to be better listeners, we can build stronger connections and foster a sense of community and belonging. [29:09]

"The ear that listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise. Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence." (Proverbs 15:31-32, ESV)

Reflection: Think of a recent conversation where you felt unheard. How can you ensure that you are providing others with the same level of attentive listening that you desire for yourself?

Sermon Summary

In today's gathering, we delved into the profound significance of communication, particularly within the context of relationships, with a special focus on marriage. Communication is the cornerstone of any relationship, and its absence often leads to misunderstandings and conflicts. We explored how God exemplifies perfect communication throughout the Bible, from His conversations with Noah and Moses to His teachings through Jesus. God’s communication is always intentional, relatable, and filled with wisdom, setting a standard for us to emulate.

The Book of Colossians serves as a guide on how to communicate effectively, both with God and with others. It emphasizes the importance of speaking with grace and wisdom, ensuring our words are seasoned with salt to uplift and encourage those around us. Effective communication is not just about speaking but also about listening and understanding. It involves expressing ideas and feelings clearly and ensuring that the message is received as intended.

We also discussed the power of words and their ability to build or destroy. Words spoken at the right moment can be as precious as gold, bringing life and healing to relationships. Conversely, negative or careless words can lead to strife and division. Therefore, it is crucial to guard our hearts, as our words are a reflection of what resides within.

Moreover, we highlighted the importance of maintaining a daily relationship with God, as it fuels our passion and ability to communicate effectively with others. By aligning our hearts with God’s love and wisdom, we can approach every conversation with the right attitude and integrity. This not only strengthens our personal relationships but also enhances our ability to share the gospel and be a godly example to those around us.

Key Takeaways

1. God as the Ultimate Communicator: God’s communication throughout the Bible is intentional and relatable, serving as a model for us. His interactions with figures like Noah and Moses demonstrate the importance of clear and purposeful communication. [02:42]
2. The Role of Colossians in Communication: The Book of Colossians teaches us how to communicate with God and others, emphasizing grace and wisdom in our speech. It highlights the need for a godly attitude in all interactions. [12:02]
3. The Power of Words: Words have the power to uplift or destroy. A word fitly spoken can bring life and healing, while careless words can lead to conflict and division. Guarding our hearts ensures our words reflect God’s love and wisdom. [19:41]
4. Effective Communication in Relationships: Effective communication involves listening and understanding, not just speaking. It is essential for building and maintaining healthy relationships, whether in marriage, family, or community. [25:22]
5. The Importance of Listening: Listening is a crucial component of communication. It requires intentionality and focus, allowing us to truly understand and connect with others. This fosters intimacy and closes gaps that the enemy might exploit. [29:09]
** [29:09]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[02:42] - God as the Ultimate Communicator
[05:30] - Communication in the Bible
[08:15] - Relating to Different Audiences
[12:02] - Lessons from Colossians
[15:00] - The Power of Words
[19:41] - Building Relationships with Words
[22:22] - The Importance of Perspective
[25:22] - Effective Communication Defined
[29:09] - Intimacy through Communication
[32:50] - Guarding Your Heart
[35:32] - Avoiding Assumptions
[38:33] - The Art of Listening
[43:34] - Quieting Your Thoughts
[46:09] - Communicating with Love

Sermon Clips

If you talk about, if you look in the Bible, He talked about, He communicated with Noah, obviously about the flood He's going to send. So He wanted to communicate with Noah. When we turn over to Moses, we see that with Moses, that He communicated with Moses through a burning bush. He talked to Moses about, you know, before He was letting the people go, on giving them a commandment. That was a communication. He even communicated to Pharaoh about what they needed to do to let the people go. God communicated with them. God communicated through a donkey. God communicated through Daniel in the lion's den. God communicated with handwriting on the wall. God communicated so many different ways. He's just, He's a great communicator. In the Bible, we see how He communicates. Jesus was a great communicator. Jesus taught through stories. He taught through parables. It was very important. He didn't just go in there and just preach, even though Jesus is my favorite preacher. He didn't just teach, even though Jesus is my favorite teacher. Jesus was the great communicator. He just knew how to communicate. It was very important that He communicated. [00:02:45] (77 seconds)

Colossians 4 and 6. I'm going to use some scripture today about Colossians, because Colossians, whenever you're looking at Colossians, Colossians, the Colossians was great people. And there were people who really loved the Lord, and the Lord loved to use them. The first part of the whole book of Colossians has to do with God talking to us about how to talk to God about people. How to talk to God about people. Like, how do we pray for people? And then the other half, if you will, the book of Colossians, is about how to talk to people about God. So you could say the whole book of Colossians is about communication. You know, how to talk to God about people, and how to talk to people about God. And how we should do it. What kind of attitude we're supposed to have. And so to me, this teaching I want to do today on communication has a lot to do with our attitude. How do we represent ourselves to people? Colossians 4 and 6. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. Boy, that doesn't mean, we can go home on that. [00:04:34] (65 seconds)

Proverbs 25 and 11 says this, a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver. When I read that, it just hit me. Can you imagine like gold platters? I'm sorry, silver platters and gold apples sitting on them? How those gold apples would just shine? That's what a word fitly spoken is like. It's just like golden apples on a silver platter. I mean, God loves communication. He loves to make sure we understand how important our words are. Words do not only lift up and encourage others, but they have value. Don't you realize that words have value? They have so much value. That can be precious and so meaningful when spoken at the right moment. [00:11:23] (50 seconds)

Ecclesiastes 10 and 12 says, the words of a wise man's mouth are gracious, but the lips of a fool shall swallow him up. Don't you know, sometimes you can say the wrong thing and the wrong attitude. It's like the lips of a fool, and it just swallows him up. It defines who you are. It just gives that characteristic of who you are, whether you are or not. Here's another description from Colossians 3 and 8. But know yourselves are to put off all these anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language from out of your mouth. Boy, that would help somebody's cussing problem, wouldn't it? Make sure it's get it out of your mouth. We must put away anything from our mouth that is not good. That is not good. [00:14:34] (53 seconds)

We must put away these words that tear down and destroy relationships and people. So the Lord forbids us from expressing ourselves in this way. One of the most significant persons of communication is to solve problems and to build relationships. Why do you want to have communication? So we can solve problems and build relationships. We got to build something. That's why God gave us these words. Words are vehicles. Sometimes they're but a lane vehicle to try to articulate what it is we're trying to say. But we want to build something. We want to build relationships. We want to have relationships. And words are the way to do it. It's the greatest factor in building and strengthening marriages. [00:15:56] (47 seconds)

Communication is a building block of any successful relationship. How many agree with this? It just is. Every troubled relationship is a sign of a communication problem. People come into my office. They sit down. One sits over here. One sits over there. One looks that way. One looks that way. And really, what I want to say, and sometimes I do, I say, people, what we have here is a failure to communicate. And they don't want to hear that. He's a low down. You're talking about facial expressions and body language. Men, women, I mean, you guys have the body language. I mean, I was like, you can walk in a room and be like, oh, no. [00:19:20] (47 seconds)

Y 'all remember Rolodex? Got a Rolodex in my mind. What I do, what I do, what I do, what I say, what I say. Me, I'm facial expression. My wife says, amen, glory to God. Hallelujah. His acknowledgement is everything. So we have it. But every troubled relationship is a sign of communication. But without proper communication, conflict intensifies. Relationships decline and eventually die. If you don't have a communication, conflict intensifies. Relationships decline and eventually die. Parents and children must daily engage in healthy communication. [00:20:18] (36 seconds)

Studies have shown, I like this one, it shows that couples who communicate frequently have more fulfilling relationships. Intimacy is one of the signs of effective communication. Men, let me help you. You want more intimacy with your wife? Communicate. Communicate brings intimacy. Intimacy is closeness. Where there is no closeness, you have a gap. And when a gap is created, the enemy is given a chance to come in. You don't have any communication, so you don't have any intimacy. When you don't have any intimacy, you don't have any closeness. Where there is no closeness, you have a gap. And whenever you have a gap, the enemy comes in. You have to communicate. [00:27:44] (48 seconds)

Tell the truth in love. We're commanded to love. Love keeps no record of wrong. Without love, heart's heart. Be open and honest. Always communicate without blame. Always show the love of Christ. This will build communication and trust. Even if you got to look for something. I mean, the love of God. I had a pastor tell me this, too. You might not even like them, but you have to love them. You get to heaven. You get to heaven. And you find that love. You find that reason for communicating. You love them. 1 Corinthians 13. That's the love chapter. It's February. It's the last service in February. And so I'm talking about communication. And I kind of just consolidate this. Love is patient. Love is kind. It is not envy. It does not boast. It is not proud. It is not rude. It is not self -seeking. It is not easily angered. It keeps no record of wrong. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects. It always trusts. It always hopes. It always preserves. Love never fails. And now these three remains. Faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of all of these is love. That's a condensed version. I just put everything out at notes that hit with 13. [00:45:52] (89 seconds)

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