During the sermon, a brother in Christ shared his own experience, which is still fresh in my memory.
The thing happened a long time ago. At that time, he was still serving in the in-person church, and he was very pious and enthusiastic. Every morning at five o'clock, he and some church staff would go to church for morning prayers.
One winter day, a sister who also participated in morning prayer told him that on her way to church, she always felt something behind her, as if something was following her. She looked back several times, but there was nothing. The sister said that she was a little afraid. Because of the long nights and short days in winter in north China, the sky was still in a hazy and slightly bright state at five o'clock in the morning. She asked him, "Is there a ghost following me?"
After hearing it, he didn't think of the matter in this sister's way, nor did he tell his sister to pray and use spiritual authority to cast out demons when that happened. The brother comforted her and said, “Don't be afraid! You are a child of God, and angels are by your side to watch over you when you go out and go in. The sounds you hear may be the footsteps of an angel, who is doing his duty and watching over you all the way.”
When the sister heard this, she was very happy! After that, even though the sister occasionally heard unknown sounds in the dark, she was not afraid anymore. She knew that it was the company of angels, and she became very happy...
Hearing this story reminds me that a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver. It can be seen that a person's words if fitly spoken, will bring many beautiful things to people.
Another brother, who was very much in love with God when he first came to the Lord, began to serve in the church soon. But he was upset because when he was in church with other believers, what he said and did was very spiritual; after leaving the church and returning to his life, he often gave way to temptation and sinned. He hated himself and wanted to change, but there was nothing he could do. He felt like a two-faced person. He was really upset!
One day, in a conversation he told of his depravity and helplessness. He decided to give up his faith so that he would not do anything bad and disgrace the church and God.
When he said that he often sinned and didn't deserve to come to church, his friend told him, "No matter how bad the prodigal son is, he is a son, and no one can replace him in the father's heart. You are equally important in Father's heart! Anyone can abandon you, but Father loves you forever. He loves having you around him forever.” Those warm words made the brother shed tears...
The brother's heart was strengthened. He not only did not give up his faith, but also studied and served, and gradually changed himself in the process of studying and serving.
However, in today's church, there are many deviations in teaching, which lead to not speaking of God but of ghosts, and not speaking of God's love but always condemning others.
Once a little sister suffered from dizziness for no reason. She didn't know why that would happen, so she communed with one "devout" sister. That "devout" sister told her, "This is because of your sin, and the Father is punishing you.” She asked this little sister to confess all the mistakes she has made since childhood one by one. The little sister was so frightened that she knelt there and confessed for several hours. Finally, she was dizzy and could not stand up. Before that conversation, she didn't have much concern about this. Now she knew through the mouth of the sister that it was the Father who punished her. She began to be terrified of her faith, and her illness worsened instead of getting better. She stopped going to church, hurt by the words of the "pious" sister! Like an invisible sword, it left scars in her heart. To this day, she still holds the grudge and is still prejudiced against the church.
These examples tell us that Christians should say words that are good for building up.
A word fitly spoken can save many souls; it can also revive a church. May brothers and sisters be more careful in their speech, speak boldly of love, speak more of progress, and speak less of conviction and terror. A word fitly spoken will bring God's blessing from heaven. May we practice ourselves in words first, and strive not to stumble in what we say, which the scripture says is the perfect man.
- Translated by Stephen Huang
