Kind Words are Important Words || Ephesians 4:29 || Manna for the Mind #110

Welcome to Day 110 of the “Manna for the Mind” devotional! This series is about taking scripture passages (typically 1-3 verses) and building our understanding of their teachings through their context and connecting scripture. I believe that doing this helps us understand how to be the type of human that God created us to be.

Today’s passage is Ephesians 4:29. We’ll discuss what it means to watch what we say.

Ephesians 4:29

AMP	NLT	MSG
29 Do not let unwholesome [foul, profane, worthless, vulgar] words ever come out of your mouth, but only such speech as is good for building up others, according to the need and the occasion, so that it will be a blessing to those who hear [you speak].	29 Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.	29 Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift.

This is the only passage we have today, so I plan to break this verse down meticulously so that we can truly understand what Paul is talking about. To open, Paul says to not use unwholesome words or words that are foul or abusive. The AMP translation describes these words as foul, profane, worthless, and vulgar. While most of us might be familiar with these words, let’s define them:

• Foul – something that is offensive to the senses
• Profane – something that is not respectful or sacred.
• Worthless – something that has no good qualities
• Vulgar – something that lacks sophistication or good taste

Paul wants us to watch what we say. Do our words create an unpleasant physical sensation to someone? These words could abuse someone and cause them to feel attacked and defensive. It could trigger a fight-or-flight response that ignites a lot of physical sensations that could overwhelm or panic someone. Do our words represent something that does not respect or honor God’s creation? Humans are created as a reflection of who God is. When we use our words to belittle ourselves or those around us, we belittle our Lord and Savior. Do our words have a positive quality to them? Are they helpful? Do they speak life into someone? Do they represent love and compassion? Do they show God’s grace and mercy? Do our words lack sophistication and good taste? Our words should be proper, wise, and of a healthy foundation. They should not be constantly full of cuss words (I believe that swearing, or using ‘cuss words ‘, is only helpful when needing to express intense emotion in a cathartic pattern, such as in moments of extreme pain or anger).

The only helpful speech is when we build others up. But what does it mean to ‘build others up ‘? It means to encourage, support, and affirm them. The AMP translation mentions explicitly that we should build each other up according to our needs and occasions. While we should lift those around us up often, there are specific times when it’s needed. Celebrating a long-hard victory, a new job, a healthy relationship, a successful ministry, the birth of a child, and more. We can lift up the gifts they provided for their success, the importance of their presence in the relationship, and more. There are a lot of situations I could describe, but the end goal is to be sure that you lift those up and speak life about and for them and NOT take them down!

This is so important that I want to close with the focus verse again but give you the AMP translation to memorize and keep close. The details of this will make a massive impact on how we speak. It says:

29           Do not let unwholesome [foul, profane, worthless, vulgar] words ever come out of your mouth, but only such speech as is good for building up others, according to the need the occasion, so that it will be a blessing to those who hear [you speak].

Until next time, stay blessed!