Happy Things: What are your words leading to?

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.

—James 3:9-10

To earn an income while staying at home with my two children, Timmy, then 4, and Rebekah, just an infant, I started a home-based franchise of Happy Things, a company that sold products of wood, pottery, and stained glass. As Christmas approached, the company promoted two stained glass items, a lighted white candle with holly leaves nestled at its base and an angel in a purple garment, holding a golden bell. Still new in the business, I regularly chatted with my director over the phone. One night, I was on the phone an unusually long time, reviewing the particulars of the Christmas line. When I got off, Timmy asked, “Mommy, why were you on the phone so long?”

“I was talking to Cheryl about Happy Things,” I said.

“You must have been talking about a lot of happy things.”

I erupted in laughter at his literal interpretation.

Now reflecting on this sweet memory, I wonder how much I actually talk about happy things. I try to be positive, especially in my classroom, where we start each class period with Good Things, a time of sharing and celebrating the good things in our lives. I also close each period with a positive launch, and in between I aim to encourage my students. But I know there are times when I’m not positive and negative comments slip through my lips.

The apostle James says, “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be” (James 3:9-10).

This time of year, it’s easy to get stressed. We may have a long to-do list and not a lot of time or patience. Maybe we snap at a sales clerk or yell at the driver who pulled into the parking space we were waiting on. Our words do not glorify God.

It’s also the time of year for office parties and family gatherings. If we are not careful, we may get caught up in gossip or family drama, which can lead to a whole host of problems.

The Message puts it this way, “A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it! It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell” (James 3:5-6).

I certainly do not want my words to be destructive. Instead, I choose to focus on the first part of that statement, “A word out of your mouth…can accomplish nearly anything.”

I still have the Happy Things stained glass product samples from 30 years ago. Yesterday I pulled out the candle and the angel and placed them both next to my nativity scene. The lighted candle reminds me that my words have the power to ignite the flame of faith in another.

    

Therefore, I choose to heed Apostle Paul’s admonition, “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone” (Colossians 4:6).

I want to respond appropriately with words that lead others to the manger, like the angel’s words that led the shepherds.

I want my conversation be about God-glorifying happy things.

Dear God, help me to always be mindful of my speech. May I use my words to build up and not tear down, to glorify You and lead others in the faith. Amen.