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Lenten Devotion

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February 25, 2021

All Day

To Speak or Not to Speak

Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt,
so that you may know how to answer everyone
. (Colossians 4:2)

As someone who would call herself an extrovert, I often spend time reflecting on things I’ve said or words I’ve used (mostly after the event, of course, like a true extrovert) and weighing up if it would have been better to just have said nothing or perhaps to have chosen different words.

As I’ve grown older, and hopefully more mature, I have also come to appreciate the power and value of silence. This silence can be found in those precious early morning hours before the rest of my household wakes up. It may be in the silence and calm of the mind before it is bombarded with “breaking news” or non-essential, time-absorbing entertainment. But silence can also be in the simple decision to say nothing. Whatever the case, the currency of silence has definitely increased in value as I daily pursue the renewal of my mind by the grace and favour of God.

So, when I saw the opportunity to write something on “silence,” the verse that came to mind was Colossians 4:6 where Paul writes to the Colossians, Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Training my mind to quieten the negative or distracting voices in order to hear the one voice of our Lord and Shepherd has required a lot more being silent and a lot less doing; a lot more listening and a lot less talking. The challenge is knowing when to speak and when to stay silent; if we cannot be gracious (no matter what it is we are talking about), then we might be better off not breaking the silence at all!

In a world that is increasingly noisy, fast and less likely to listen, wouldn’t it be beautiful to start each day during Lent with a period of silence? Or even, to indulge in some periods of silence throughout the day to hear what God wants to share? That way we can enjoy a renewal of our mind and a “seasoning of our speech” by the power of the Holy Spirit for the next time we decide to break the silence.

Prayer

Dear Lord, thank you for the gift of silence and the opportunity to hear what you want to say to me. Help me find those pockets of silence at the beginning of and throughout the day to reconnect with you and renew my mind so that I can be more like the person you created me to be.

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