Well, if you take your Bibles and turn to Genesis 1, Genesis 1, really our idea of moving all the seats up was a way to test you to see if you already need to confess about communication. those of you who had a bad attitude about having to come up front, and you're murmuring to your spouse, complaining, it's that practical, communication to the glory of God. You know, we love to, we love to ask our children to do things, and when they don't do things as quickly as we would like them to, with a happy heart that we would like them to, we tend to really get on to them, right? And even call on those bad attitudes and that murmuring and complaining. But as adults, sometimes we justify our own actions when it kind of goes against our grain and when it really doesn't fit what we sometimes like. But communication to the glory of God is a simple way to really practically apply the theme for the year. And I wanted to be able to address topics that would be very practical for everyone. And I understand the audience, you know, has a lot of variety in it as far as ages, seasons of life, things like that. And so to come up with topics that really fit everyone is somewhat difficult, but Really, there's so much in Scripture that talks about everyday life and what God calls us to do that there's plenty of material. And so we'll have a number of these series, and hopefully some of even the men in the church could jump in and be a voice in some of these series as well. We're going to talk about work to the glory of God. And that'll be real helpful, and I'm sure there's many men who could speak to that in our church and finances the glory of God. And I know there are guys who have studied the scripture along those lines and could be very helpful for us. And so I'm hoping I'm not the only voice that we are able to hear through this year as we go through a number of things. But did want to start off with communication. because it really falls under what 1 Corinthians 10.31 says, whether therefore you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. And so, as we think about life that simply, we must conclude that communication falls under that category, and no matter where you live, no matter what you do every day, there is one thing that we all do, and that is talk, all right? So, we're all in this together. No matter if you're 15, 25, 45, 65, 85, we all talk. You say, well, I live alone, I don't have to talk to anybody. Well, hopefully you talk to the Lord, right? And that can, we can complain to the Lord sometimes, and I don't know how much that glorifies Him. So, in some way, we spend our lives talking, and we get up in the morning, and we start talking to people. Now, how many of you would say, I'm the kind of person, I can get up in the morning, and I can actually start talking before my cup of coffee? Anyone like that? Okay. How many of you would be honest enough to say, I cannot do that. I must have my coffee first. Okay. All right. So we get up in the morning and we start talking. And then what do we do throughout the day? We continue to talk, whether it's even through our phones, maybe not verbally, but texting or sending some kind of email. And then throughout the evening we talk. Hopefully husbands, sometimes you come home and you talk. You don't come in the day and say, I've talked all day, I don't want to talk anymore. I know that's a temptation, and yet God wants us to be communicating. And the last thing we go to bed doing is talking. So if you think about life to the glory of God, I'm not sure that there's a better subject that we could address as we begin than communication. because it affects so much of our lives from morning to night. And so many times in our lives, we actually don't glorify Him with our speech. And so we talk in the kitchen, we talk in the car, we talk in the office, we talk in the hallway, we talk with family, we talk with neighbors, we talk with coworkers, we talk and we talk and we talk. And the ability to communicate is what separates us from the rest of creation. We have this wonderful privilege. Now, someone say animals communicate. How many of you would believe that? Wow. All right. Not gonna say the rest of my comments. We'll just keep moving. No problem. But the idea of talk seems so normal or ordinary, but there are a few things that we do that are more important, right? There really aren't. And so we must continue to try to honor God in our communication. Now, the next few things I want to mention are just things that have come up. Really, I can't identify with them at all. They really don't touch home in my life, but in counseling sessions, these things come up, all right? I am being facetious, all right? So, how many times have we heard things like this? I can't believe what I'm hearing when my son talks to me. Any fathers said that through the years? She talks so much that it's hard to get a word in edgewise. Any men said that? I guess mothers could say it about their daughters. Why do we always seem to end up in an argument? Does that sound like your household? Maybe you're in a season of time where no matter what you try, no matter how good your intentions are, Things just always go the same direction. What happened? We seem to be so close, and now we hardly ever talk. Now that could be any kind of relationship. That could be a close friend that you've had for years, and perhaps you've grown apart. It could be a husband-wife relationship. It could be a a parent-child relationship, maybe an older adult to a parent. I mean, across the board in any relationship, the separation can happen many times because of our communication. We'll look at that in the scripture in a little bit. I wish our family could go through an entire day without yelling. Sometimes communication is so toxic in a family situation that it always ends up at a place where I would say, you know what, it does not glorify God. It's not how God intended it to be. Sometimes I think it would be better if we quit talking altogether. Now when a relationship gets to this point, there's probably been significant amount of communication that doesn't glorify God. Because the hurts have probably piled up and the walls of bitterness have developed. And so therefore, you're kind of at a place where, you know what? I've heard a lot of couples say, we just cannot make this work. We've tried, it just doesn't work. And so, a lot of this that we understand, as far as communication, If we communicate to the glory of God, we do see the blessings of God on our lives and on our relationships, but if we don't, many times we feel the hardship of that, and the brokenness that comes in relationships, and it's hard to go back. Now, God can change any situation, and God can restore the things that the locusts have eaten. And God can make anew a home environment, a marriage relationship, a father-to-a-child relationship. God can change all of those things. But it's very difficult as we go through the process. Many times we can even be on a situation where we're referring an argument, right? Or we're on the outside of a relationship that is not going well, and the communication is not to the glory of God, and we're kind of in a situation where we're trying to navigate the waters to help people. Anyone in a situation like that currently where you're trying to help a relationship grow in their communication or their conflict resolution? Anyone involved in that at this time? A little bit, a few, okay. That's kind of a difficult place to be in as well because you hear many times what's wrong and you can see it. And sometimes it's easier to see in other people's lives than our own lives. But you're called on to navigate the waters and kind of help people grow. in this area of communication. I want us to look at just four principles as we begin this series in regards to our communication. Number one, first of all, God has a wonderful plan for our words that is far better than any plan we could come up with on our own. God has a wonderful plan for our words. And that's how it was designed. We'll walk through Genesis 1 here in just a moment. But what happened? Sin radically altered our agenda for our words. And I would probably, even now that I'm reading that, at this point, I would say sin has radically altered God's agenda for our words, resulting in much hurt, confusion, and chaos. And we can see it visually all over the place, right? We can turn on the TV, watch any kind of movie, even watch relationships maybe in the office, and you can see how if people would just do things a little bit different, it could go really well. But because of sin and the fact that we all struggle with the hardship of our words glorifying God, we can understand how God's plan for our communication really has changed and we end up in absolute chaos. The third thing is in Christ we find the grace that provides all we need to speak as God intended us to speak. How many of you would say today, I have said some things that did not glorify God? Now, that could go all across the board from, well, I'm not even going to start naming the specifics because then you may not want to raise your hand, but generally speaking, how have you said, you know, I have said something today that did not glorify God. How many of you would be honest to say that? Okay. And if we talked at the end of each day, we probably all could raise our hand because it's something we deal with over and over and over again. But our hope is that in Christ, we can find the grace to change. So you may have said some very hurtful things. You may have gossiped today. You may have complained today. You may have, and the list could go on and on in your words, but it doesn't always have to be like that. So perhaps your spouse would say, you know what, my spouse, great person, but there is one area where it's just never ending. You know what, there's hope because of Christ. And if your spouse has Christ in his or her life, there's hope for change. And so in the chaos and in the hurt and the hardship, actually, we can find grace. And all that we need to speak in a way that glorifies God, we can find in Jesus Christ. It actually brings great encouragement to our lives. The Bible teaches us how to get from where we are to where God wants us to be. So you may be stuck in just a rut of communication where it doesn't matter how much you try, you just can't stop it. You find yourself saying things and then all of a sudden you grasp for it and you want it to come back and you just know it's just not possible. But we can change. In the gospel, there is hope that we can change. Now, if you look in Genesis chapter one, Genesis chapter one, I want us to understand why we can change and how we can change, but we have to understand what happened. All right, in Genesis chapter one, we find out, first of all, that God spoke. God is the first speaker. He speaks to creation. In chapter one, in verse 26, then God said, let us make man in our own image according to our likeness and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. And then 27, God created man in his own image And in the image of God, he created him, male and female, he created them. God blessed them and God said to them, be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth. Then God said, Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of the earth and every tree which has fruit yielding seed. It shall be food for you and to every beast of the earth and every bird of the sky. And it continues on. And God saw all he had made and behold, it was good. So communication in the very beginning actually was in a perfect place. Why? Because it started with God. God is the first speaker. He is the one who created everything. And as he started to speak, it was perfect. Can you imagine an environment where all of the communication was perfect? Now, you may have a great home, but I guarantee you it's not perfect in the communication. And you may have a great work environment, but I guarantee you it's not perfect. But can you imagine an environment where every single word spoken was perfect, and everything was in perfect harmony? Communication truly did glorify God at every single point. And when God started, and when He created, and when He started communication, that was what He intended. God chose to reveal Himself through words. And he did so, and we're thankful for the scriptures. These are his words to us, and they're perfect as they reflect the originals that were given to us. He revealed himself, his plan, his purpose. So he said, let us make man in our image. That was his plan. He wanted man to reflect the image of God. And then he said, and we're going to give you some things. We're going to give you the whole creation to enjoy and provide for food and all the things that can be enjoyed. It was a wonderful environment. It was a perfect environment. And yet we see that it all changed. The infinite and almighty God makes himself noble and understandable through words and through human language. God is the great communicator. So if we are going to change and grow, we must look to the Lord for our hope and help in the area of our words. He is the perfect communicator. And He wants us to be like Him, and so we must use God as the standard of where we want to go. And when God is the standard, we all fall short, no matter how good of a communicator we really are. We can always grow to be more like Christ. Now, as we seek to understand the topic of communication, it's interesting to understand that the only time in human history where there has not been a war of words was in the garden in Genesis chapter one and Genesis chapter two. The only time in history where there has not been a war of words. The world of communication was a world of peace. There were no communication struggles. You ever think to yourself, boy, I just wish they would understand what I'm saying. I really didn't mean it when I said it that way. It wasn't my intent. Can you imagine being in a place where that never happened, you did not have that pressure at all? It must have been a glorious experience in the garden that Adam and Eve had. Everything spoken reflected the glory of God. Everything that was spoken reflected the glory of God. So as Adam and Eve had time to walk with the Lord and talk with him, it was all perfect. But then, we understand that there came another voice that started speaking. And when another voice came, everything started to go bad really, really quick. If you go back to the scripture, in Genesis chapter three, in verse one, it says, now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, Indeed, has God said, You shall not eat from any tree of the garden? And the woman replied, From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat, but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat from it or touch it or you will die. The serpent said to the woman, You surely will not die. For God knows that in the day you eat, from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. So, what all changed? You look at your life right now, and the communication struggles that you have, and the communication struggles that we all have, and we understand that this is the starting point, when there was another voice that came to compete with the one who had the perfect voice. So God the Father had this perfect ability to communicate with his creation, and then Satan comes alongside and it tells us that he was more crafty than any beast of the field which God had made. So his heart was deceitful. And his voice started to influence, right? We see the position, the authority, and the very words of God being challenged. We read through them. But he asks this question. You shall not eat from any tree of the garden? And then the woman responds. And then, what is the serpent's voice at this point? In verse four. The serpent said to the woman, you surely will not die. So for the first time in creation, God's voice was challenged. So there were two voices to listen to. Instead of just God the Father, there was another voice. And it says there, for God knows that the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. And so, his whole authority, God's whole authority was challenged by this alternate voice. The voice of the evil one. we see an interpretation of life for the first time that is different than God's. So prior to this moment, God was the interpreter, He was the communicator, His will and His plan and His purpose, it was communicated and therefore done. But until then, at this point, then His authority was challenged, the interpretation of life was challenged, and it all went south from this point. First time we see a lie is spoken. So the woman hears a voice from an alternate voice that is really not characterized by truth for the first time. So there's this choice, which voice do I believe? Do I believe the one who created me? Or is the truth over here that seems so attractive because it really matches what I want? I want to touch that tree. I want to eat that tree that God has said I cannot eat. And so therefore, we see lies coming into the equation. We see the first time where people start speaking against each other. Let's go back in the text. in verse seven, then the eyes of both of them were opened and they knew that they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. They heard the sound of the Lord walking in the garden in the cool of the day and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord called to the man and he said to him, where are you? This was the first time Right? This is the first time when God calls and there's shame and there's guilt. You know, there's that classic illustration of the mother trying to find the three-year-old in the house. and the mother's calling the three-year-old's name, where are you? What are you doing? This is where it all began, because when the mother finally finds the three-year-old, whether he's in the pantry, like our son Cole, we'd always find him in the pantry eating Cheerios, sitting in the corner. It's like that first guilty, where are you? Where the response is, oh no, I'm in trouble. Prior to that, there wasn't anything. But when the lie came in, life really changed and it altered everything as far as communication was concerned. And then we find as well that Adam then spoke against his wife, right? So not only was there this lie from the evil one, but now we find that Adam then speaks against his wife, and he really blames God, if you go back in the text. Then the Lord called to the man and said, where are you? He said, I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid myself. And he said, who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree, which I commanded you not to eat? And the man said, the woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate. This is the first time we see the blaming game. where people are now accusing each other of the sin that's in their own heart. All of this started in the garden, where communication went really, really bad. Prior to this, there was no critical, there was no condemning, there was no angry words, there was no lying, there was no, you make me so angry, there was none of that. When we say things like, you make me so angry, we're really saying that it's the other person's fault for the sin in our own lives. And then things like this, if you hadn't of, and then fill in the blank, I wouldn't have done this. Do you ever hear that in your home? Well, if she hadn't of, then I wouldn't have. I've heard this, I was never uptight until I had children. Really? We were counseling early on. We were counseling a couple and this woman was convinced that her anger was her husband's fault. If he hadn't made the choices he made, then she would not be an angry person. And we heard it all the time. It's his fault that I'm angry. Really? Now I'm not, I'm not excusing the husband and the choices or anything along those lines, but so many times our communication, it's like if we would just step outside of ourselves and listen to ourselves speak. We actually, we spend a lot of time justifying our own position, justifying our own sin, and really having communication in our life that does not glorify God. Now, as we kind of walk through the beginning here, I just want to just let the weight of Proverbs settle in as far as how important communication is. If you turn to Proverbs with me, we're going to kind of walk through it. I think I have actually most of them on the screen, so that may be helpful for you. But I would love for us to all take strides in this area of communication, because the scripture just, it communicates how important our words are, and how easily it is to sin with our words. In Proverbs chapter 10 and verse 19, when there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise. When there are many words, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent. So, think about the amount of words. It would be interesting to see, on average, how many words people speak in a day. Anyone know that random fact? I don't know. Any ideas? Louder. What's that? Men or women? What does that mean? Women speak more words? I like that. That's good. More sin on their part. Not you. Not you. Any idea how many words we speak in it? 30,000. Okay. We'll take that. Can you imagine? 30,000 words a day. Now men, that's probably half for us. We're about 15,000, I'm sure. But it says, when there are many words, There's a lot of transgression. There's a lot of sin. So we cannot take our communication lightly. If we are going to be people who live life to the glory of God, let's start here, right? Let's start with everything that comes out of our mouth and let that be what we evaluate as to whether we really do live life to the glory of God. Because the scripture is clear, when there are a lot of words, which we all speak a lot of words, there is a lot of sin. But the wise person will be very, very careful. And sometimes, you know, we talk about all the time to our kids, like, don't say anything. If you cannot speak without sinning, don't talk. because it's that crucial. It's that important as we think about living life to the glory of God. As well, Proverbs chapter 12 and verse six, the words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, but the mouth of the upright delivers them. So words can accomplish two things, right? They can really harm, or they actually can bring a lot of help. So words matter, and they matter a lot. So we must choose them carefully and make sure that they glorify God so they can accomplish really great things. Proverbs 12, 17 through 19, There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise, it brings healing. Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment. That middle portion there, I think it's verse 18, there is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts. Does that ever describe your communication in a day? Like you speak too quickly, you haven't run it through maybe a grid of, boy, is this really the best thing to say? Is it the right time to say it? Is this something that will help build someone up? Like if we're not thinking along those lines, and if we're just the kind of person that when it comes to mind, it comes out of the mouth. Many times, this is the result. It's like a sword thrust. But the tongue of the wise, it brings healing. So we can actually be very calculated in our speech, run it through the proper grid, and actually see God use our speech to do really neat things in other people's lives. But that takes a lot of time and a lot of effort. And many times, we don't really care. We just say whatever we feel, say whatever comes to mind, and we end up hurting people all along the way. Proverbs chapter 16 verse 28, a dishonest man spreads strife and a whisperer separates close friends. And so you can see how even in relationships, someone who has bad communication can do a lot of damage to other people. And so our words matter. The way that the scripture communicates of how important this is, our words matter at every single point. Proverbs 18 verse 2, a fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion. Have you ever been around someone like this? Where you know, moment by moment, you're gonna get his opinion or her opinion. And it's hard to be around a person like that because you almost, you kind of just want to run away because they're so opinionated. Their words bring so much discouragement to a situation. So you can have something that's going on that could be a really, really good thing and then all of a sudden an opinion comes in and the whole thing goes another direction. Our words matter. They either glorify God Or they don't. And many times we're not careful and we're not wise and so therefore they don't. Proverbs 18 verse 8, the words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels. They go down into the inner parts of the body. You know, the idea of a whisperer is that of a gossip. And even some would say even that of a complainer. And the description here is like, we love to hear stuff about people. And we like to be up to date and current on people's lives. And there's something about our flesh where we love to hear like the nitty gritty. And the person who is just constantly about telling the nitty gritty, and you know what, even in Christian circles, a lot of times, these kinds of things can be said, and sometimes it's, well, we gotta pray for that person, but let me tell you. And really, we cross a lot of lines in communication about each other that are not acceptable. If that person was standing in that conversation, you would never say those things. But somehow we feel like the freedom that we can say about other people when they're not there and their struggles or the things that are going on in their lives or their choices, maybe what they wear, maybe the things they do, we can say a lot of things. And as hearers, we're like, oh wow, that sounds really good. I like that. It's like, you know, that idea of a chocolate chip cookie or a morsel that tastes really good. But it's really bad communication. Like it's communication that doesn't glorify God at all. So therefore, we have to be really, really careful about it. 1821, death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits. What a great tool we have. Communication to the glory of God. What a great opportunity you have tomorrow. Actually, let's rewind. We have tonight. to interact with people who we care for and love. And we can actually bring life to our words, through our words, or we can bring the opposite. College students that, you know, you're kind of in this situation where you're in this dorm many times and you're kind of, maybe you have 10 to 20 people around you and, you know, you got a lot of things that you could say. in an environment like that. Because, you know, not everyone lives like you do, and not everyone takes care of the stuff like you do, and I have one particular child that is very particular. I don't know how, I don't know how they're gonna go to college. Actually, that may be a really good thing for him. But so many times we could say a lot, and we can either bring death or bring life through our words. And sometimes it's not exactly what we're saying, but how we're saying it. So you can speak hard things, but the way that we, the hard attitude that communicates those really hard things is really the line where does it glorify God or does it not? Death and life are in the power of the tongue. This gift that we have, the gift of communication that we use from morning till night, it can accomplish a lot of good and it can be to the glory of God or it can do just the opposite and it can be disastrous. Proverbs 21 verse nine, it is better to live in the corner of the housetop than a house shared with a quarrelsome woman, or wife, sorry. Clarify that. And I have worked with couples who the wife just beats her husband down over and over and over again. And there's something about that death and life are in the power of the tongue, that if that's the situation, sometimes you wonder why your husband doesn't want to talk to you. You think, well, he just doesn't communicate with me. Well, maybe, maybe you've beat him down so much, he doesn't know what to say anymore. Now that's a very one-sided perspective, and I understand that. But that's the reality in some marriage relationships. And I've actually seen, as married couples get older, it gets worse. And I've seen older couples in their 70s and 80s, and they just bicker and fight all day long. And it doesn't glorify God. So it doesn't matter if you've been married 10 years, 20 years, or 40 years. If your communication in the home doesn't glorify God, it's a problem. And God wants you to change. You say, oh, well, this is who I am. I'm 80 years old. How am I going to change? In Christ, there's hope to change. And what if from 80 to 90, you actually turned the corner in your communication, and your children and your grandchildren are like, I don't know what happened to mom, but she doesn't talk to dad that way anymore. And vice versa. It's never too late. Today can be day one. In Christ, we have hope to change. Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Proverbs 26, 20, and 21. For lack of wood, the fire goes out, and where there is no whisper, a quarrelsome ceases. That's pretty awesome. A charcoal too hot, embers and wood too fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife. And so it goes both ways. Scripture's very clear, it can go both ways. A husband can be very argumentative. and can really be a place where it doesn't find any good. And so the temptation is to come home and start nitpicking and start trying to stir things up. And that can be very, very difficult on a wife and really, really quench the spirit of a wife who's maybe prepared a nice meal and then all you got to do is tear it apart. Pick, pick, pick, pick, pick. You know, at that communication, it's bringing death upon a person in the principle of the matter. It's not bringing life. It's like sword thrusts, and it doesn't glorify God. And we're all guilty of it. Because we talk so much, we sin a lot. Proverbs 27, 15 and 16, a continual dripping on a rainy day and a quarrelsome wife are alike. To restrain her is to restrain the wind or to grasp oil in one's right hand. Proverbs 29, 20, you see a man who is hasty in his words. There is more hope for a fool than for him. And so it speaks to all of us. And wherever we find yourself in, whatever relationship, God wants our communication to glorify Him. Now, time has gotten away from me. Lastly, four things. God wants us to be living to the glory of God in our words. He wants us to be living to the glory of God in our words. He wants us to be changing to be like Him in our communication. This is not an option. This can happen in all of our lives, and it can start today. We can be more like Christ. Jesus is the Word, and He is our only hope for our words. He is the Word. He's revealed Himself to us. He is the example. I was thinking recently about when people mocked Jesus, especially in those latter days, and those who were questioning His authority. I wish I could have been there to see His response, because it was perfect, and His words were always perfect, and His communication always glorified the Father. He said that, I have come and I have glorified you on earth. So it was always perfect. In the hardest of circumstances, I don't think there's one of us here. I know there may be people who have had really hard relationships, maybe with parents or a spouse or a friend, and we've gone through really hard trying times as far as communication is concerned, but I don't think there's anyone who has experienced the kind of ridicule and hardship that Jesus did in those last days before he went to the cross. And yet, he perfectly responded every time. There was no revenge. There was no cutting words back. It was always appropriate, right, and perfect. And so He is our example. He is our hope. If we know Jesus, we can be like Him. If we have the Spirit living inside of us, we can change to be like Jesus. And we can actually live to the glory of God in our communication. The gospel brings hope for change in the way we understand and solve our communication problems. So, if you fall under any of the categories or any of the examples or anything I've said tonight, if you say, yeah, that somewhat applies to me, then the gospel brings hope for change. Because it tells us in Romans that we've actually been freed from our sin. So it doesn't matter if you talk just the way your father talked to you and you now talk to your children. It doesn't matter. The gospel frees us. It doesn't matter how harsh your boss is and how much you just cannot ever attain or get approval in their eyes. It does not matter. You are free from yourself. You do not have to respond. You don't have to take revenge through your words. You don't have to be disrespectful. You actually can glorify God in every response as you go throughout your day. The gospel brings hope for change. If you have communication problems, and I'm pretty certain we probably all do on some level because we all talk and we all sin. So if you have communication problems, There is hope we can change. Today can be day one. Your relationship with your spouse can be better in your communication. Today can be day one. Your relationship with your roommates in your dorm, they can be better. Today can be day one. Your relationship with your children that is strained and going through a hard season of time, it can be better. Today can be day one. You can actually, as much as it depends on you, seek peace and use your words to bring life, not the opposite. You can actually choose to encourage and build up, not tear down like sword thrusts. It is possible to change because of the gospel. And so we all have communication problems, we all sin in our communication, but there is hope in Christ. And so I do pray as we walk through some of these things that God will really convict us in areas that maybe we just aren't paying that close of attention because We get into patterns of talking and communication with those who we love, and yeah, we know it's wrong and we shouldn't do it, but God actually wants to shore up all the areas of our life that don't look like Jesus. And it doesn't matter if you're 20 or 80. It does not matter. He wants us to glorify God in our talk. So as you pull your head talking tonight, look to Jesus for hope and help. As you get up in the morning, look to Jesus for hope and help. So when you get cut off on 385 or whatever highway you take tomorrow morning, you can have a different response. What comes out of your mouth does not have to be that way. Tomorrow can be day one. And make the application all throughout your day. We can glorify God. We can live through the glory of God in every aspect of our lives. There's hope because of Christ. Let's pray. Father, this area of communication, it's very weighty. At least it should be in our lives. It's something that we all face because we talk. And your word tells us that when we talk a lot, many times there's a lot of sin. So Lord, help us to want to glorify you in our speech. Thank you that we have Jesus as our example who went through horrible, horrible accusations and hardship, and yet he glorified you in every way. So God, I pray that you would repair relationships that need to be repaired. I pray that the words of life will start to flow between husbands and wives. I pray that the quarrels and the arguments and the critiquing would start to go away. I pray that we would be faithful to honor you in our responses, no matter what happens to us. I pray that we would seek to glorify you in every word that is spoken. God, help us to talk to your glory. Lord, we're thankful for hope that is found in the gospel. You have freed us from our sin, and so we can live this way that is described in your word. And so we look to you as we begin even a new week, that you would help us in our communication. Thank you, God, for the time in your holy and precious name, I pray. Amen.