Speak Sweeter

This past week, in our Live Like You Were Dying series, we covered speaking sweeter.  In Rick's sermon, he identified 3 ways to speak sweeter.

- Appreciate People

• say thanks to people that serve you 
  
• say thanks to people that shaped you

-Encourage People

Hebrews 3:13 "But encourage one another daily as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness"

-Pray for People

Ephesians 6:18 "Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all Christians everywhere."

I am going to be honest and admit that speaking sweet is sometimes difficult for me. It's not something that I have been accustomed to, and it's very difficult to teach an old dog new tricks. Seriously, as we get older, we don't generally get nicer. Typically, the older you get the harder your heart gets, unless you are diligent about being an encouragement dispenser. I know for some people, complimenting people or speaking encouraging words comes easily. For me, I sometimes feel that if I say things of this nature, that people aren't going to think that I am being genuine, seeing that I usually joke around. Thus, I am going to start being intentional...less joking, more encouraging. Also, I am going to try and make it a point to say I love you more, so family, get ready to be weirded out. (This is not something my family normally does. I remember when I was in school asking my mom why we didn't.) I want three things to be achieved from saying I love you more...1-I want to remove any doubt.  2- I want to teach Dylan the importance of sharing his feelings 3-I don't want to have any regrets.

Lastly, a bit of advice that Rick provided to us. Before you speak ask yourself: is it true? is it kind? is it necessary?

This week...Love Deeper - I look forward to seeing how we can love deeper.