Can you hear me now?

I have learned a very valuable lesson this week. Have you ever heard the saying of "what you say and what you do is two different things?" I learned this week that this statement is not always true! In fact, it should go like this:

"What you say and what you do is two different things...but the third thing is, what do you convey?"

It is no longer enough to just speak your mind, and then allow your actions to follow up with what you have spoken. If people around you do not fully understand what you mean, then you have not fully conveyed the proper message.

For example: I can say, " I have to lose weight!", but then I constantly eat pie. This is two different things. I have said one thing, but I do another. But what do others convey about what I said and what I do? Someone could very possibly misunderstood me! Possibly what someone heard me say is ... "I have to lose weight", so in order to help me, they refuse to let me eat any pie. And as people continualy remove pie from me, I wonder, "Do they think I am fat?" The message has somehow gotten mixed up.

It is a vicious cycle, isn't it? God's Word says that we must make our yes be yes, and our no be no. This is talking about how we shouldn't talk out of both sides of our mouth, but I believe we also should be clear in what we speak. Our message must be clearly understood.

 If it is not understood, who is at fault? The speaker or the hearer?

MATTHEW 5:37 "But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes', and your 'No' be 'No', for whatever is more than these is from the evil one."

Can you hear me now? How about now? Today, I am learning to lean upon God for the right words to speak. May I speak with clarity and boldness, so those standing near can clearly hear the message I have.