Out of the Mouth of Babes

If I pay attention, I can always tell if my son is about to say something that isn’t appropriate. For instance, one day while we were sitting in the waiting room at a medical office, he was staring rather hard at a really, and I do mean really, old couple. Maybe if I hadn’t of been so sick, I would have caught him before the inevitable happened. Then again, we wouldn’t have been there if I hadn’t of been so sick, so we were kind of in a catch twenty two.

He looked intently at the gentleman, who was hunched over and walking very slowly. My son took it all in and voiced exactly what he was thinking. “That guy is really old. He is about ready to go see God.” Now, I suppose that is a polite way of stating the obvious. I mean, he was really old. My son was not purposefully being rude. He wasn’t trying to be hurtful. He simply observed and he reacted.

How does a parent explain to a six year old appropriate speech? I mean, we are just getting the basics of appropriate behavior under control, at least some of the time. I know all of us as parents have countless stories of our kids saying the right thing at the wrong time. We get embarrassed over them speaking the truth. Being polite means we only say certain things certain ways. I admit there are times I wish I did not have inhibitions about stating the truth, up front and without apologies. In this politically correct world that is not an acceptable behavior. We might offend someone.

The Bible does tell us in Psalm 40:10 I do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your faithfulness and salvation. I do not conceal your love and your truth from the great assembly.

It seems to me this verse is the opposite of being politically correct. How about you? I will not hide my righteousness in my heart? To me that means, I should be sharing my faith. I should be sharing the gospel and the goodness of God. I should be showing the love of Christ and the salvation that only He can give. I should be speaking truth.

Does this mean I should make an announcement if a really, really old guy walks by me? Ah no, there are still some thoughts that should remain thoughts. But it does mean when important truths need to be spoken, we should pray and seek God’s will. If He is leading us, if our words are used to bring life, then we must speak.