Daily Devotional
How to Preserve Your Relationships
“Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.”
Colossians 4:6
February 5, 2024
Ponder This
Salt has many different purposes. One is adding taste to food. And grace adds flavor to speech. Salt is a preservative, and speech that issues out of the nature of grace will preserve relationships. “Let your speech always be with grace.” Do you know what grace is? Grace is not giving people what they deserve; grace is giving them what they need. You say, “My wife doesn’t deserve that kind of speech,” or “My husband doesn’t deserve those words,” but that’s more reason to speak with grace because the other person needs it.
Do you know why we can’t be intimate? Because we’re afraid to expose ourselves. We’re afraid we’ll get criticized. If I expose my inadequacy, then I’m afraid I won’t be accepted. Out of acceptance grows trust. And then out of trust, there comes intimacy. And so, you see, intimacy can only grow where there is a place of safety. Grace gives space for safety, and it builds bridges instead of tearing them down.
- When has someone extended grace to you when you did not deserve it?
- What would it look like to extend grace to the people around you? What makes that difficult?
Practice This
Consider a recent conflict you were in. How did you act at that moment? How might you have responded more graciously?
FOR YOUR GIFT TO THE MINISTRY
Front Porch Moments by Gayle Foster
WITH KEY INSIGHTS FROM HER FATHER, ADRIAN ROGERS
I try to unplug each morning with Jesus with just my rocking chair, my Bible, and a pen.
Having a secret place is very important because I know that Jesus is always there waiting for me. I know where I can find Him! His presence is everywhere, but there are places where it is so thick you can cut it with a knife. You may not even have a front porch, but there is a secret place for you as well. God’s invitations are for anyone who will respond. There is no more important request than the one found in Psalm 27:8: “My heart has heard You say, ‘Come and talk with Me.’ And my heart responds, ‘Lord, I am coming.’”
