Are You Vinegar or Honey

Proverbs 16:24

Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.



Are your words like honeycomb? That is a lesson we've been teaching our children over the past few weeks. When they start to fuss we just ask are you being honey or vinegar? Its amazing how the mood changes. On Saturday night during our devotion time Mark gave each of them a visual illustration by first giving them a little cup of vinegar (they thought it was water) and had them dip their finger into the cup then lick their finger. Wow, did they hate that! He talked about how our words can often be like the vinegar, harsh and bitter.


We've been teaching them that its never okay to talk harsh and mean to one another. The other day in school we talked about encouraging one another and building each other up. After our talk the boys decided on their own to start a tally sheet. Each time one of them said something crude, rude, cut throat, even if in "fun" they would add a tally to that persons name. They were shocked to see how many times they were NOT encouraging one another. It was a real eye opener and a lesson learned. How about you? Are you an encourager? Are you raising children who are encouraging one another? Do you're words reflect a Christ like spirit or do you tear down everyone and everything in your path? When people see you coming do they think of you as uplifting and encouraging or do they see you coming and say; "Oh, boy, here we go, Mrs Negative is coming to visit!" Try starting your own tally sheet to see if you're an encourager or a discourager. I know it was a real eye opener in our home this week!