Kind Words Are Like Honey

It’s that time of year again. We put on war paint, ensure our uniforms are pressed & polished, and we fuel up for the battles ahead. That’s right, it’s football season. We become raving fanatics for our teams. We talk trash and spend gobs of money on tickets, food, spirit wear, and more. What’s funny is we do not have any influence over the outcome of the game. We spend a lot of time, money, and energy to encourage (or sometimes discourage) our favorite team and players. Have you considered how much effort you put into this whole thing?

What if we did this in other areas of our life? What if we became radical fans at home, work, school, and in our community and church? What if we put as much effort into being fans in those areas instead of a Negative Nancy or Frustrated Fred? (No harm intended to any Nancy’s or Fred’s).

Let me ask you a few questions: What are you currently worried about? The behavior and ideas of young people? Our city council? Doors at the courthouse? Planters? Windmills? The direction of the country? We each have our things, right? You fill in the blank. You also get the picture.

And now imagine what it would look like to be raving fans FOR what you are worried about, instead of what you are raving fans AGAINST. Imagine showing up at the schools and cheering on the teachers who are working hard to influence our kids positively. Imagine showing up to the city council meetings and cheering on the council members who give up hours a week thinking about, reading about, praying about, and worrying about the stuff you don’t even think about. Imagine showing up at the school board meeting and cheering on the administration and team worrying about providing the best education for our kids and grandkids. Imagine showing up and being POSITIVE and FOR the change the world needs.

I heard an old timer once say, “You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar.” You know what I’ve noticed? Vinegar does not taste good. I’ve seen some pretty gnarly facial expressions from people who took a swig of vinegar. People who get a taste of honey have a much different face - maybe even a smile.

So, join me during this season - let people know what you are FOR and hand out honey - what a difference that will make. As Proverbs 16:24 (NLT) says, “Kind words are like honey— sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.”