What are you Saying?

   They say when people are asked to name their greatest fear the most frequent response is public speaking. Yet, have you ever considered how frequently the opportunities to speak in smaller settings come to each of us? Someone asks for advice, or you see something that needs to be addressed? Consider these three unrelated moments I’ve had in just a few short days:

• Sitting across from a couple talking about baptism and raising children, I share how baptism functions - what does it do? Since we do not believe baptism is the same as salvation, what do we believe is happening when parents stand to present their child? I found myself talking about...
• Standing at the end of a bed in the ICU, where I had been called to offer a prayer for someone I’d never met, I felt led to say one additional word...
• On the edge of my seat in the circle this week at GriefShare, I was about to lead more than a dozen folks who were walking through a deep sense of loss and sorrow in an opening prayer. I found myself sharing...

I was led to say nearly the same thing each time. I said,

“You are God’s Beloved. You are loved by God before your best day ever happens and after your worst. Before you accomplish anything and after it feels like everything is lost, you are God’s Beloved. God’s love for you is larger than all of it and small enough to squeeze into even the smallest spaces.”

   It took me forty years to finally have these words take effect. I am still a long way from integrating them into my life completely, but I am learning hby speaking the truth with love, let’s grow in every way into Christ.”
ow true they are in a wide range of moments. Ephesians 4:15 says, “
Next time you are asked to speak, what will you say? Is it true? Is it worth repeating? Does it build someone up?
   Grace and peace, Scott