Dang Gina!

Profanity. What counts? How do we honor God in our language? Where do euphemisms fit in?

Last night we had a great discussion in our "You Asked For It" class where we are addressing various questions raised by our students. At the end of class I shared a few helpful principles to keep in mind as we learn to honor God with our lips. Here are the things I shared:

• Realize that transformation happens slowly and only over time
• Realize that our language both expresses and influences our heart
• Recognize in yourself the situations when you struggle most in honoring God in your language
• Develop a plan of action for those situations ahead of time
• Understand that small decisions to refrain from certain words (even if you still think them) are signs of real progress

Over the next few blog entries I will go into more depth to explain some of these things. What do you think about these things?

Humility Before Honor

Proverbs 15:33 and 18:12 use the phrase "...humility comes before honor." I learned this yet again last night. Tanya and I had been at odds with each other. I felt like she was demanding too much of me; she felt like I didn't care about her needs. She was stressed; I was bothered. Both of us could not really have a productive conversation at all. Most of the things we did, innocent though they might be, ended up being interpreted in the worst possible light.

This escalation continued until humility entered the picture. Once both of us were able to humble ourselves and commit to work things out instead of tear things down, honor came back into our relationship. Once we were able to humbly and actively listen, we were able to progress toward honoring one another above ourselves. Once we were able to, in humility, pray to our creator, we were able to, in honor, glorify God in our relationship.

The next time you feel like strangling your spouse (or significant other), remember that "humility comes before honor."