I'm Just Saying...

I love John Mayer's hit song, "Say."  It has a nice melody and a catchy, smooth groove to it, but recently I examined the lyrics.  Check this section out:

Have no fear for giving in

Have no fear for giving over

You'd better know that in the end

Its better to say too much

Then never say what you need to say again

Think about the last 2 lines.  I think JM was trying to declare that sometimes it's better to get the issue out than hold it inside and never deal with it.  I could be wrong about his intent but, hey....I'm just saying.

Now that begs the question, "Is it really better to say too much?"    The bible has a lot to say about what we say.  After all we are relational beings who communicate every day in one form or another, so it would be in our best interest to know what God "says" about "saying what we need to say."

"Let your speech always be full of grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one."  {Colossians 4:6 NKJV}

As I started chewing on that verse I realized that we are smacked in the face with a huge paradox. The only way we can really know how to say what we need to say is to let what we say be full of grace and seasoned with salt. 

Thanks, Paul. 

Now that opens up a new reality:  We actually have to say something with grace and salt (hold the pepper) to gain insight on how we need to say it. 

Hmmmmmm. 

On the surface that verse doesn't help much, but when you drill down deeper it makes perfect sense.  Jesus taught us that it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks, so the condition of our innermost person will have a profound impact on what we say.  Many of us (myself included) have "vomited" on people when the condition of our spirit-man is not in sync with grace and dare I say that many of us have also been on the receiving end of someone else's spewing.  Oftentimes the spewing is under the guise of "I had to say it!"  "I'm full of hurt, pain, disgust, misery and dog-gone-it someone needs to know.  In Mayer's words, "It's better to say to much than never say what you need to say again."  

Now understand this:  by definition, grace is (Thayer's Lexicon) 

a spiritual condition governed by the power of divine grace. 

We all face times of crises in life where we get overwhelmed.  The danger is not becoming the crises - not letting the crises become our identity, define who we are or shape the condition of our spirit-man.  If I allow God's grace to govern my life and choose to live in a state of grace, it is grace that will define my life and become my identity.  Then I will be able to say what I need to say with the knowledge of how God wants me to say it. 

Next, the verse says our speech needs to be seasoned with salt.  I will continue on this in my next blog posting.  Be blessed.