Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.

  - Ephesians 4.29

My speech – may it praise You without flaw:
May my heart love You, King of heaven and earth.
My speech – may it praise You without flaw:
Make it easy for me, pure Lord,
to do You all service and to adore You.

  - Anonymous, Irish, 12th century[1]

Today, as most days, our tongues will be the busiest and most visible members of our bodies. The question we need to keep before us is: “Am I serving the purposes of grace with my tongue?”

Today we will distribute words here and there, to this person and that, much of the time without a great deal of thought or concern. “Hey, how you doin’?” “What’s up?” “Fine, just fine; you?” “How was your day?” “Please pass the salt.” “Will you hand me the remote?”

When we consider what a great gift it is to be able to communicate with words, in sentences adorned by emphasis, pace, carefully-crafted grammar, and appropriate volume, it seems a shame that we should ever utter even a single word without selecting it carefully, like a master bowman would an arrow, and aiming it at a consciously-chosen target.

Speaking, after all, is a kind of art form, and one of those “all things” areas where we have the potential for glorifying God throughout the day.

The words that pass from us to others are fraught with potential, either for good or ill. If we wish them to be the former, then we must nurture love for Christ and our neighbors in our hearts and make it our business to serve and adore the Lord with all our speech. But seasoning our words with grace doesn’t come naturally (Col. 4.6); we’ll have to work at this discipline, like any other.

We serve the purposes of Christ in conversation when we devote our words as vessels of ministry to build others up in grace. And, like anything devoted to the Lord, we should try to make our words as spotless, faultless, and pure as we can. “My speech, may it praise You without flaw.”

“My speech – may it praise You without flaw.” This humble prayer, remembered at various times throughout the day, can remind us of the goal of all our conversation, which is to minister grace to others through speech that edifies, words that attract others to Jesus and urges them to become more like Him. They who experience edification and uplift from our words will linger and pay attention when we speak, and this can make all our speech, no matter the subject or duration, part of an ongoing conversation about the grace of God and the Good News of His Kingdom.

Let’s not be sloppy about our speech, but seek to “do all service” to the Lord in all our words. Devote your conversations to the Lord and offer them up each day as sweet music to His and your neighbors’ ears.

Psalm 141.3, 4 (Truro: “Shout, for the Blessed Jesus Reigns!”)
Lord, set a guard upon my mouth;
Let not my heart to evil bend,
Nor let me work iniquity
In company with wicked men.

Lord, grant me gentleness in place of wrath, joy in place of sorrow, tranquility in place of anxiety, and, where necessary, silence in place of speech. Adapted from Litany of the Saviour.

Practicing Christian Conversation
We have to work at this, at learning to use our conversations for edification. I’ve prepared a brief, 7-lesson study on the art of Christian conversation, and I’ll be happy to send it to you free of charge. Just send me an email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and let me know you’d like to have it.

I hope some of you are beginning to download the free studies on the book of Ecclesiastes, currently running in our Scriptorium column. These weekly studies can be an excellent aid to your personal devotions or a helpful resource for your Bible study group. Ecclesiastes is about the wisdom of God – what it is and how to get it. If you want a really thorough study of wisdom, order a copy of Brother David Sincerbox’s new book, On the Upward Path, from our online store. This is the best and most thorough study of this subject I know, and it’s accessible to readers at every level. Pray for David as he is in the process of developing an Ailbe Seminary course to accompany this book.

Thank you for praying for the meeting of our Board of Overseers. It was an excellent meeting, and we begin our new ministry year July 1 with solid plans, a manageable budget, a growing vision, and full confidence in the Lord’s leading. Please consider making a gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe here at the beginning of our ministry year. You can use the donate button here or at the website, or you can send your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 19 Tyler Drive, Essex Junction, VT 05452. Thanks to those of you who support our ministry with your gifts and prayers.

Psalms to Pray for Today, Saturday, and Sunday
Today
Morning: Psalm 119.57-64; Psalm 82
Evening: Psalm 8

Saturday
Morning: Psalm 119.65-72; Psalm 83
Evening: Psalm 9

Sunday
Morning: Psalm 119.73-80; Psalm 84
Evening: Psalm 10

T. M. Moore, Principal
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All Psalms for singing from The Ailbe Psalter. Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.