Speaking To One Another

How often do you speak with your friends, family members (not living with you), and members of your church family?  I hope regularly.  We are so busy living our lives that some of us hardly make the time to chat with friends, family, colleagues or even our church family. 

Speech is a gift from God.  We should cherish our speaking and use our tongues to encourage others.  Have your conversations taken a back seat to texting, facebook and twitter?  I hope not.  Ephesians chapter 5 tells us how to live our lives daily. V1 : Imitate God as children imitate their parents.  V2:  Walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, ….”  Jesus is our example of what love looks like.  Happy Valentine’s Day!

One of the habits we are to adopt (v19) is “Speaking to one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.  Has anyone ever spoken to you in Psalms?  How would that sound?  I am thinking we should weave some lines or verses from the Psalms into our conversations.  How do we do that?  We must first know some lines or verses from the Psalms.  This means we aught to be reading the Psalms regularly – everyday or several times during the week.

Speaking to one another in Psalms does not mean continually repeating a catchy phrase.  A popular phrase I hear quite a bit is:  “God is good.”  “All the time God is good.”  Yes God is good, and it is good to remind ourselves and others of this fact.  A verse in Psalms continues, “He does good.”  Psalm 119:68.  We should not stop at that one truth.  There are many more truths about God in the Psalms.  In fact, God’s truth is written throughout the Bible.  The Psalms are poetic and easy to remember.  Two truths that come into my mind are:  How excellent is God’s Name in all the earth. Psalm 8:1, 9 and “My help comes from the Lord.”  Psalms 121:2

There are numerous acclamations in the Psalms which we can affirm to others and to ourselves .   In order to do so, we have to read the Psalms, memorize some of the verses, meditate on some (Psalms 119:23) and enjoy them.  As Psalms 119:24, 70 encourage us to do.  The Psalmist says “your testimonies also are my delight”.   Another phrase that was once very popular, “What would Jesus do?”  What would He do? Verse 1 tells us, Imitate God. V2 tells us Walk in love – the love of Jesus.  Just as He loved us and given Himself for us.  Now that’s love!!  There is no need to wonder what Jesus would do, and we have the Holy Spirit living within us.

Speaking (not reading) to one another in hymns.  How many church going folk today own a hymn book, I wonder?  Somehow, somewhere the Church leadership thought it was a great idea to buy hymnals and keep them in the empty church building all week long.  In order to speak the lyrics of a hymn, we would have to know the hymn from childhood or over a period of time, for some of us, years.  I think it is time for the church individually to own a hymn book.  Sing at home your favorite hymns or read a hymn to familiarize yourself with the words.  Then you can speak to others lyrics of hymns which will encourage and inspire them.

Speaking in spiritual songs;  Note the verse says spiritual not secular songs.  The messages of hymns and spiritual songs are derived from the Word of God.  When we speak the lyrics of a hymn or a spiritual song, we are speaking the truth of God’s Word.  Regarding spiritual songs, the song should tell of God’s truth, not the song writer’s opinion.  We are to listen to the words of the songs we are singing or hearing.  If the words are not in accordance with the Word of God then they are not spiritual songs as defined in the Word of God.


Let us start, if we haven’t as yet, speaking to one another- believers in Jesus Christ – in Psalms, hymns (get out that hymnal), and spiritual songs.  See what God will do!  I think we may have a revival!

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